Land Acknowledgement

YWCA St. John’s acknowledges the privilege and responsibilities of living and working on the traditional territories of diverse Indigenous groups. We acknowledge with respect the diverse histories and cultures of the Beothuk, Mi’kmaq, Innu, and Inuit of this province. We acknowledge the harm that settler-colonialism has perpetrated and continues to perpetrate on First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people extends beyond physical environments. Digital platforms are among the current sites of ongoing colonial violence and dispossession. YWCA St. John’s is connected to YWCA Canada, a legacy institution that benefited from and contributed to colonial policy, and as such, is committed to centering decolonial efforts and supporting the work of Indigenous communities, Elders, and knowledge keepers. Through our work on gender equity, we aim to advance the safety, worldviews, and self-determination of Indigenous people in online and offline spaces. 

Labour Acknowledgement

Private Ancestral venerations among Black people is common. However, they are increasingly acceptable in public spaces. 

With gratitude and respect, the YWCA St. John’s acknowledge that Canada and its colonies, including the Newfoundland and Labrador shipbuilding and cod fishery industries, are built on the brutality of forced and unpaid labour wilfully extracted from people of African descent and their relations through trans-Atlantic enslavement. We honour the spirits of those who were taken from their homes and perished during the Middle Passage, those who made it and continued to fight for Black liberation in various ways and those yet to be fertilized.  We recognize that the systems of colonization and enslavement remains embedded in the Canadian fabric and results in ongoing anti-Black violence and carnage, including lack of safety, capitalism, exploitation, and death, in Black communities and families. YWCA St. John’s vows to make transparent the contributions of African descent people to building the nation state then and now. We are committed to addressing anti-Black racism and achieving Black inclusion systemically and structurally with leadership from African peoples. 

YWCA St. John's acknowledges Dr. Delores Mullings for the gift of these words.