From the Office of the Mayor – Invitation to 2025 Land Acknowledgement Ceremony

January 27, 2025

Mississippi Mills Council holds a Land Acknowledgement Ceremony at the start of each year to help re-establish relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in our community. This has been taking place since 2020.

The Land Acknowledgement Ceremony is embedded in Council’s Procedural By-law so that this time of reflection and learning happens every year.

This year’s ceremony will be held during tomorrow’s January 28th Council meeting and will be led by Larry McDermott, Algonquin Elder from Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation. Elder McDermott has remained a source of guidance to me and to Council as we work toward restoring and repairing relationships.

Our community has a deep history of settler and Indigenous relations. We see tomorrow’s Annual Sacred Ceremony as a way to express gratitude and to honour Indigenous peoples, as well as a time of continued renewal and recommitment.

The Council meeting begins at 6 p.m. and the ceremony will include smudging, the Land Acknowledgement Statement and an address from Elder McDermott. As with all Council meetings, everyone is welcome and I encourage you to attend.

Those who cannot attend but would like to watch, all Council meetings are livestreamed here: https://calendar.mississippimills.ca/council

Mayor Christa Lowry

Municipality of Mississippi Mills