Remembering at Pelham Park

Who do we remember and how would we like to remember them? These are the questions guiding Arts4Alls current conversations with residents of Pelham Park Gardens TCHC. With support from New Horizons for Seniors, we have been conducting interviews with long-time residents of Pelham Park about people who no longer live at here and about role they have played in the community. We have also been meeting new and old residents through our Tuesday arts socials, where we have been weaving festoonery and telling stories about springtime in the garden.  This Tuesday, March 20th we will celebrate the spring equinox by bringing our creations out to the garden and saying welcome to the plants and seeds we hope will grow in the coming season. 

 

Toronto is home to a large indigenous population including residential school survivors and intergenerational family members who have been impacted by the history and legacy of the residential school system. The sacred land on which we stand has been a site of human activity for 15,000 years. This land is the territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. Today, the meeting place of Toronto is still the home to many indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work in the community, on this territory.