At the end of the last ice age, the land that we work on was flooded as the glaciers melted, becoming ancient Lake Iroquois. Just up the street, our office at B Street, what we now know as Davenport Road was the shoreline and a trail known as “Gete-Onigaming,” Ojibwe for “at the old portage,” came into being to travel between the Humber and Don River. This route served many diverse people, just as we intend to serve the various diverse communities through B Street.

The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) is grateful for and acknowledges the sacred land on which we work, live and play. The land and waterways in this area have been the site of human activity for over 15,000 years and is ancestral territory called Tkaronto, “where the trees stand in the water.” Tkaronto is a gathering place of many nations and peoples past and present, recorded and unrecorded, including: the Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, and the Anishinaabe, including the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

Tkaronto was subject to the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. We acknowledge this treaty was ignored and disregarded.

We acknowledge and reference the global oppression of colonialism that is ongoing and stand in solidarity with the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit communities who continue to seek liberation and decolonization within the colonial project of Canada.

TAPA encourages you to visit Native Land for details of indigenous territories, treaties and languages and to take action to respect and care for the land, air and water we continue to share.

TAPA unveiled a visualization of our land acknowledgement in 2024. Our visualization was created by Tyler J Sloane (they/he/she) who is a multidisciplinary artist with a focus on performance arts and media arts, and has a foundation in theatre as an actor, producer, and director. Click the button below to view the piece and learn more.

Additional Learning – Truth and Reconciliation