Page 20 - GreenMaster Fall 2024

Sweetgrass braid in an abalone shell used for smudging.
As a turfgrass management professional, you may be asked to give a land acknowledgement at a conference or seminar, or your golf course may wish to have a written statement displayed somewhere on the property. When writing a land acknowledgement, you can start with doing some research. The first step is to understand the specific Indigenous groups who’s traditional, unceded and/or Treaty territories or homelands you live and work on by consulting local resources, Indigenous communities, or online databases. The website www.Native- Land.ca is a useful resource for identifying which Treaties and agreements apply to a specific location. Include the names of the Nations, or communities, and acknowledge their enduring presence and connection to the land. You should tailor the acknowledgement to reflect your event or organization and include examples of how you are working towards truth and reconciliation. Land acknowledge ments should be dynamic and living processes that respond to on-going learning and can change over time. For guidance and to ensure that your acknowledgement is appropriate and respectful, you can engage with leaders or representatives from your local Indigenous communities. A land acknowledgement should be part of a broader commitment to support Indigenous rights and communities.
SWEETGRASS GARDEN
At the Guelph Turfgrass Institute, we are working on making further steps towards truth and reconciliation by taking a specific action to support the Indigenous scholars, students, and members of our community. To do this, we initiated a knowledge sharing partnership with local Elders and Knowledge Holders, which has culminated in the establishment of a sweetgrass garden bed in our Teaching Garden.
Sweetgrass holds significance in various spiritual and ceremonial traditions among some First Nations and Métis cultures and communities, with distinct meanings, stories, and teachings in each. To the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Nations within Ontario, it is included as one of the “Four Sacred Medicines” alongside tobacco, cedar, and sage. Its sweet scent is told to attract positive energies and purify spaces. Braided into long strands, sweetgrass is often burned in smudging ceremonies, where the smoke is used to cleanse people, objects, and places.
Land Acknowledgement from the Guelph Turfgrass Institute: The GTI resides on the treaty lands and territory of the Missis- saugas of the Credit and the traditional hunting grounds of Six Nations of the Grand River. We are committed to advanc-
ing reconciliation and are working to better support Indigenous voices and peoples on campus by bringing cultural elements into the university space, which includes our sweet- grass garden. We are working to foster collabo- rations with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.
20 • CGSA • GreenMaster
Sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata): an aromatic grass native to North America. It is used in smudge, prayer, basket weaving, medicines, and beverages. This plant holds a sacred place in the cultures of many First Nations and Métis peoples.