September Newsletter
Fall is upon us…
As the summer winds down we are excited to roll into the fall with some fun events and projects!
Some updates:
We are re-launching our colouring book project and are still looking for stories celebrating neurodivergence: https://wildembracefarm.org/updates/call-for-submissions-colouring-book
Hannah is working on a horticultural therapy course with the intention of including therapeutic gardening and horticultural skills into our programming! You can learn more about Horticultural Therapy here.
General Membership Meeting
We have an upcoming general membership meeting at which we will be welcoming up to 5 new Board Members. It's up to you as our members to help us elect them to their positions, so mark your calendars for Sunday, September 11th at 4:00pm.
You will also be introduced to our current board and we will leave some time for you to ask questions and get to know our team.
You will receive a link for the virtual meeting via email the day before, and please let us know if you require any accommodations.
Coming Up Soon
In October we will run our first 1 day events in the Greater Victoria area! Watch this space for more information about what kind of events we have planned.
Quote of the month
This month we want to highlight the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action which you can read here. In particular, as a nonprofit run by settlers, we want to be aware of call 92 under Business and Reconciliation:
We call upon the corporate sector in Canada to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a reconciliation framework and to apply its principles, norms, and standards to corporate policy and core operational activities involving Indigenous peoples and their lands and resources. This would include, but not be limited to, the following:
i. Commit to meaningful consultation, building respectful relationships, and obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples before proceeding with economic development projects.
ii. Ensure that Aboriginal peoples have equitable access to jobs, training, and education opportunities in the corporate sector, and that Aboriginal communities gain long-term sustainable benefits from economic development projects.
iii. Provide education for management and staff on the history of Aboriginal peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations. This will require skills based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.
The Yellowhead Institute has an accountability status update every year so you can see the progress.
Our quote comes from Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.
“We need acts of restoration, not only for polluted waters and degraded lands, but also for our relationship to the world. We need to restore honor to the way we live, so that when we walk through the world we don’t have to avert our eyes with shame, so that we can hold our heads up high and receive the respectful acknowledgment of the rest of the earth’s beings.”
Here’s to restoring relationships with all human an non-human living beings,
- Hannah