Indigenous Connections – Spring 2025 | Volume 15

As the Earth awakens with the warmth of spring, so too does our commitment to Indigenization continue to grow and flourish. This spring, we celebrated the renewal of relationships, the blossoming of new initiatives, and the continued integration of Indigenous knowledges and voices across campus. From raising awareness on Red Dress Day to expanding smudging signage across campus, these initiatives echo a collective journey toward truth, healing, and belonging. This season has planted seeds of connection, renewal and change across our campus. As we prepare to enter Indigenous History Month, we do so with open hearts—rooted in the past, grounded in the present, and reaching toward a future of shared understanding and respect. We’ve witnessed meaningful growth—and with each new season, more continues to bloom.  

In this Issue:

• Upcoming Events
• Indigenization on Campus
• News
• Territorial Acknowledgement

Join us in supporting this year's campus Pow Wow on Friday, September 27, 2025! We're looking for volunteers to help with various roles throughout the day. 

For more information or to volunteer, contact Gladwyn Badger, Events and Special Projects Coordinator, at gbadger@uwaterloo.ca.

The Indigenous Student Development Fund offers support for Indigenous students at the University of Waterloo with unexpected educational or living expenses. Eligible costs include tuition gaps, school supplies, emergency housing or childcare, and wellness supports not covered by insurance. Open to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students in any program. Citizenship/membership documents must be uploaded to Quest.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Visit our website for more informationge. 

The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (Neutral), Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples.
 
Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract. On October 25, 1784, Sir Frederick Haldimand (former governor of Quebec) signed a decree that “granted” a tract of land to the Haudenosaunee (also known as the Six Nations Confederacy), that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River, in compensation for their alliance with British forces during the American Revolution.
 
The Six Nations of the Grand River currently have less than 5% of the land originally “granted” to them in the Haldimand Tract. We use the word ‘granted’ in quotation marks because we recognize that Indigenous land should need not be granted by non-Indigenous settlers. The Haldimand Tract is central to ongoing land claims struggles.
 
The University of Waterloo is also in the “Dish With One Spoon Territory”. This is a wampum treaty between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee that bound them to share the territory and protect the land representing what we now call Southern Ontario. We all eat out of the Dish – all of us that share this territory – with only one spoon. That means we have a shared responsibility of ensuring the dish is never empty, which includes taking care of the land and all living beings we share it with. There are no knives at the table, representing that we must keep the peace. Indigenous nations and peoples, European settlers and all newcomers are invited into this agreement in the spirit of peace, friendship and respect.
 
For information on personalizing an acknowledgement visit our Territorial Acknowledgement webpage.