VIVI'R LGBTQ+ operates on the traditional territories of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabe, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples. Tkaronto (meaning 'where there are trees standing in the water') has been a place of gathering, ceremony, and exchange long before colonial borders were drawn.
This territory is covered by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. It is also covered by Treaty 13, signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Williams Treaties signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands.
As LGBTQ+ Latinx newcomers, many of us also come from lands shaped by colonization, extraction, and displacement. Our migration stories are entangled with the same histories that brought settlement here. We hold that truth with humility, and with a commitment to showing up as good relatives, not guests passing through.
How we try to show up
- Naming this territory in our events, programs, and communications, not as a formality, but as a practice of remembrance.
- Directing part of our community donations to Indigenous-led initiatives when we're able to, and amplifying Indigenous LGBTQ2S+ voices in our programming.
- Learning from and collaborating with Indigenous organizers, including Two-Spirit leaders, rather than speaking for them.
- Treating reconciliation as ongoing action, not a single statement.
Learn and give back
We encourage our community to learn more about the Indigenous nations whose land you are on, and to support Indigenous-led organizations directly:
We write this knowing that words are not enough. We are committed to keeping learning, listening, and acting alongside Indigenous communities for as long as we exist.