Our Home and Treaty Land

Book excerpt: Our Home and Treaty Land addresses the critical need for non-Indigenous peoples to face their past with honesty in order to navigate a harmonious way forward. In this revised edition, co-authors Ray Aldred and Matthew Anderson take you on an expanded exploration of Treaty, and how it is a solution to Canada’s social, spiritual, and ecological crises. Aldred brings Cree spirituality, cosmology, and experiences of intergenerational trauma into conversation with Christian concepts of creation and repentance, mapping a path towards restorative justice. Matthew, in alternating chapters, unfolds a journey (sometimes a literal one) of unsettling awakening to untaught Canadian histories and dishonoured Treaties, from the complexities of a typical settler-descendant hyphenated identity. Our Home and Treaty Land repurposes Christian scripture not as a license for dominance and conquest but as a model for sacred covenants. It provides gentle and valuable insights and concrete, practical guidance for individuals and communities eager to understand and honour their Treaty commitments. Within these pages, you’ll discover Treaty as a family-making ceremony that binds settlers, Indigenous peoples, Land, and Creator together on a good path.