Organization: The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) – Upper Canada Occasional Teacher Local represents Occasional Teachers who work in the Upper Canada District School Board in eastern Ontario. They try to use an equity and social justice lens in their work.

Audience: Occasional Teachers who range in age from 23 to 80+ years of age. They are men and women who range from brand-new teachers to those who have retired and cover a vast spectrum of social and political views.

Problem: There is a ETFO Land Acknowledgement that is general, that acknowledges that members are gathered on the “customary and traditional lands of the Indigenous Peoples of this territory.” The ETFO -Upper Canada Occasional Teacher Local wished to have a First Nations, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) Land Acknowledgment Statement that would be more personalised and specific to the Indigenous Peoples of the territories where the Local is situated.

Solution: In consultation with Indigenous peoples and local experts, the copy incorporates phrases from the ETFO Provincial Statement and focuses on the four different Indigenous nations whose territories may be found within the boundaries of the Local. Focus is placed on the lands where members work to account for all lands encompassed by the Local and not just the location of a specific meeting. The choice to include “Thank you” in Anishinaabemowin and Mohawk was to accustom members to hearing indigenous languages and to normalise their use.