Land Rematriation
What is Land Rematriation?
Land Rematriation is Indigenous women-led work to restore sacred relationships between Indigenous people and their ancestral land, honoring matrilineal societies, and in opposition of patriarchal violence and dynamics. Land Rematriation is also sometimes known as “Land Back,” and is a process where lands are returned to the stewardship of their Indigenous Peoples.
CELT Webinar
This Centre for Ethical Land Transition webinar, hosted by the Tatamagouche Centre and Women of First Light, shares their experiences with BIPOC communities and “Land back.” Stories are shared of when it worked well and when it didn’t. This is a part of our Land Legacy Series as we work on rematriation of the land at Tatamagouche Centre.
Indigenous Land Trust Sharing Circle
Indigenous community land trusts across Turtle Island aim to sustainably steward Land in perpetuity in alignment with ancestral teachings. They present a major opportunity to put Reconciliation into action through the return of ancestral lands. Watch or listen to this webinar to learn more about, their aims, and how you can support their success. Featuring presentations from Keepers of the Circle, Toronto Indigenous CLT, Calgary Urban Indigenous CLT, All our Relations Land Trust, and Norm Leech of Downtown Eastside CLT.
Land Rematriation at Tatamagouche Centre
Tatamagouche Centre is a charitable organization that has been working to promote healing and Reconciliation in Canada for nearly 35 years. Considering three decades of peace and friendship relationship building, the Centre (owned by United Church of Canada) and the Women of First Light are charitable Indigenous organizations moving forward towards land rematriation, or in other words, land back. Land back has been discussed for several years and agreed upon to start the process of rematriation of the land to Women of First Light. This happened during the 7 Generations Gathering held in November 2023, in partnership with the Women of First Light, the Tatamagouche Centre, and United Church of Canada.
All that gathered agreed we want to move forward to making this a reality. We agreed that the way forward should be guided by the Wabanaki Clan Mother/Grandmother Council, supported by a Young Indigenous Women’s Council. We agreed that the Clan Mother Council would be brought together through Women of First Light which includes Clan Mothers and Grandmothers from the Peace and Friendship program. We were also aware that not everyone was here this weekend, that needs to be a part of this conversation. We need to reach out to others, hold more circles and hear other voices before moving forward on defining how this will work.
For this land transition to occur, we need to define guide principles for working with land back learning journeys/rematriation of the land and raising awareness. The United Church of Canada inquired about these guiding principles in assisting with the process of rematriation of the land. While we hold more circles within our communities, we respectfully ask that the Tatamagouche Board connects with representatives of the United Church to learn what the process would look like for the Church and the Centre. We do not know how it will work, what the legal implications are, but we trust that we can all move forward in a good way and collaboratively co-create our dream. In the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation, this material must be covered, acknowledged and the memories of those affected be honored and positive action be taken to address inequities.
We strive to have our land rematriation story ends as successfully as Faith United in Kingston Ontario. Click here to read about their journey towards decolonization.