An integral part of the Hillside Festival for more than 25 years, the Indigenous Circle of our summer festival has offered a variety of activities such as musical performances, community drum circles, talking circles, storytelling, arts and crafts within an atmosphere of inclusiveness and celebration. Hillside is proud to support the Indigenous Circle as a place for artists and knowledge-sharers to bring their art to life to foster togetherness and understanding.
Land Acknowledgement
Hillside Festival is coming to you from the ancestral lands of the Attawandaron people, which, more recently, have become the treaty lands and territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit. We acknowledge that the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe and Neutral People, Anishinabek Nation, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nations lived here before us and keep living here now. This sacred land has been the site of gatherings for more than 15,000 years. We give thanks to the caretakers of this territory, recorded and unrecorded, suppressed or forgotten, who also share the responsibility of caring for this territory. We honour the Dish With One Spoon treaty and our responsibility to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. Acknowledging the importance of land and people, of ownership and entitlement, is an invitation to understanding the connection between land, people, and history and the politics that can give those connections meaning. As DJ NDN noted at our festival that focused on the theme of “Stories That Need to Be Told,”
“Every Canadian should know what Indigenous words mean and where they come from. For example, what does “Quebec” mean and what language does it come from? What about Ontario? What about Toronto? If you learn the languages of the territory you’re on, you’ll learn a lot about the history of where you live.”
We encourage you to learn about the land you call home.
One of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action is to increase Indigenous programming and another is to ensure it reflects the diverse cultures, languages and perspectives of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. As people and organizations, we have a responsibility for the stewardship of the land on which we live and work and a responsibility to present the diverse art of Indigenous peoples. Hillside is committed to this responsibility.
A Tipi at Hillside Festival
Yes, there is usually a tipi at Hillside Festival! For the past number of years, we have borrowed a tipi from Hillside volunteers to set up at Hillside Festival – it has served as a symbol of where the Indigenous Circle is. That tipi is no longer available to us, and it allowed us to think about what other options might be available that would be aligned with community teachings from Indigenous peoples in Ontario. A tipi would typically have been used by the plains peoples from the west for their ways of living and being. The Indigenous peoples of Guelph and Ontario would have slept in longhouses (Wiigiwaam). As a more permanent structure like a Wiigiwaam is more difficult to build during our temporary festival, we brainstormed what we could build – and would like to invite you to experience this year’s interactive art installation within the Indigenous Circle. The installation’s purpose is to signal where the Indigenous Circle is and to invite participation from Hillsiders for a moment of community and connection.
Photo Gallery
