Truth and Reconciliation Working Group

Territorial Acknowledgement

We acknowledge that Erb Street Mennonite Church meets on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishnaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples who continue to have an unresolved interest in the lands within six miles of the Grand River. This area is known as the Haldimand Tract, land promised to the Six Nations that includes our church building at 131 Erb Street West, our cemetery at 407 Erb Street West, and land we lease to Shalom Counselling at 9 Avondale Avenue South. We continue to work and pray for justice and reconciliation.

Originally promised to the Indigenous peoples of the Six Nations, the northern half of the Haldimand Tract was eventually divided into numbered blocks, with Block Two named Waterloo Township in 1816. Waterloo Township became part of Waterloo County when the county was established in 1853. Today, the original Block Two is within the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (since 1973). The former footprint of Block Two is now occupied by Kitchener, Waterloo, part of Cambridge, and part of Woolwich Township.

1784 Haldimand Tract

haldimand tract

Image Source: Adapted from The Amish and Their Neighbours by Lorraine Roth. Courtesy of Pam Schaus, Wilfrid Laurier University; Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario and St. Jacobs Printery
 

Waterloo Region

 Waterloo Region

Image Source: Elizabeth Siddorn, Information Technology Services, Region of Waterloo

 

Within the broader calling to “love our neighbours,” the Truth and Reconciliation Working Group of Erb Street Mennonite Church has a two-fold purpose: 

  • To initiate actions—within the congregation and in the wider community—that advocate for and support the implementation of the Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Final Report (June 2015). 
  • To share information with the congregation about the historical injustices and the ongoing calls for justice made by Indigenous Peoples in Canada — and locally the Haudenosaunee, Chonnonton, and Anishinaabeg Peoples, who were promised the land extending ten kilometers (six miles) on each side of the Grand River, land on which the church is located and many congregants reside. 

Options for Financial Support  - make this a link to another page

If you feel led to respond through a financial contribution, you may wish to consider supporting one of the following organizations: 
 

  • Woodland Cultural Centre (Brantford, Ontario) — Dedicated to preserving, promoting, and strengthening Indigenous languages, cultures, arts, and histories. https://woodlandculturalcentre.ca/ 
  • Mennonite Church Canada – Indigenous Relations — Supporting Mennonite communities in growing their awareness of host peoples, understanding the ongoing realities of settler colonialism, and nurturing justice-based relationships.  
    https://www.mennonitechurch.ca/indigenous 

 

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