stickers of being

canoe

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

caribou

There are a wide range of species that fall under the name of the caribou, which is also known as the reindeer. They are migratory herd animals, which means they regularly travel specific routes in groups that can number into the hundreds of thousands. They range throughout the circumpolar regions of the world, meaning the North pole downwards. Canada, Russia, Northern Asia and Northern Europe are the modern lands that the caribou roam through and live on. Historically, their range was much wider, spanning farther South in all these circumpolar regions. Herds of the Boreal Caribou once travelled across what is currently known as the GTA, or Greater Toronto Area, but now are restricted much farther north because of infringement and destruction of habitat. Its’ conservation status within Canada is currently listed as Threatened with Extinction.

But the caribou, like First Nations peoples, are not lingering myths from some lost past-- these are cultures of the present, making their way on the Earth alongside “modern” communities. The boreal territories without Boreal caribou would no longer exist as they do and have been. The caribou help maintain ecosystems and biodiversity, and without them, All would be affected-- from water cleanliness and flow, to the survival of other animal and plant species, to greenhouse emissions.

To date, Boreal caribou share their home with over 300 First Nations communities; and many First Nations peoples are working together with Environmental organizations to strive for their (the caribou’s) protection. For many of these different communities, these reindeer are integral to their livelihood and are spiritually significant; for all these First Nations communities, the caribou are respected as living beings with rights. They are deeply woven into the cultures of the communities they have been living alongside for time uncounted; their presence affects language, community relations, health (physical and mental), the reinforcement of cultural values and rights, practices of spiritualities, and income.

corn

Corn has been a sacred plant and important food to many Indigenous Peoples for more than 3,000 years, from the northern prairies to the southlands of Abya Yala. As part of the Three Sisters (corn, squash and bean), corn provides the nourishing carbohydrates that complement beans' proteins and squash's vitamins. Planting seasons are marked by ceremonies to honour the Three Sisters, fundamentally intertwining them with philosophical and spiritual practices and identities. In fact, the Haudenosaunee name for corn translates to, “it sustains us” or “our life.”

Yet with settler colonialism came food appropriation and insecurity. The communities who were supported with agricultural knowledge from Indigenous populations (that saved them from famine and starvation) now regulate and systematically restrict food systems to disfavour Indigenous communities. It was historically known by the Europeans to be such an important food staple and article of commerce that European invaders realized it would be more detrimental to burn cornfields than villages. Today, fresh food continues to be less available on reserves, carry enormous prices; restaurants rarely contain traditional ingredients. Croutch, an Anishinaabe member of the Wikwemikong reserve on Manitoulin Island says: "The way the system has been set up to favour European foods over ours, it's a crime because our foods are now so expensive. We can't hunt a moose and you can't get an abattoir to cut it up and sell it -- so even that game meat, the only thing you can get (is) farmed."

Corn is widely grown in Canada, and would have been seen wild throughout Ontario without city. Corn is still the number one crop in Ontario in terms of production and farm cash receipts. It remains a dietary staple that many depend on and that must be protected and equitably grown. And it is a reminder of the Three Sisters — the importance of sustenance, balance, and respect for the Earth and its carers.

“We are like a corn husked and watered on all sides; we are all a variety of corn,” said conference participant Carmen Lozano (Kichwa). Elder Duane ‘Chili’ Yazzie (Diné) commented, “We come from four worlds. This is the fourth world, and we are four peoples. The blacks take care of the water, the blue ones the air, the white ones the fire, and we, the dark ones, take care of the earth. Corn is a must to live. The first woman was given corn, a symbol of fertility. As the first people, we feel the pain of Mother Earth.”