As land acknowledgements become standard practice in Hamilton it is also increasingly becoming rote, to checkmark to-do things on a list. People read the land acknowledgement most often without understanding the treaties or nations within the land acknowledgement. This episode will explore and discuss treaties related to these lands and further explore the treaty relationships and responsibilities of Hamiltonians. I will have a conversation with Betts (Elizabeth) Doxtater to discuss how to move beyond land acknowledgements to treaty partners. 

Guest Bio: Elizabeth Doxtater was born and raised on the Six Nations Indian Reserve #40, Grand River.  She is a lifelong learner in the field of Indigenous Arts as a cornhusk artist, painter, and storyteller.  Doxtater conducts workshops, blending the arts with historic and cultural narratives for students, child welfare agencies, educators, and a variety of other organizations. Her work focuses on the concept of re-villagizing as the next step after decolonizing.  

In 2019 Doxtater was commissioned by the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) to artistically represent the four ethical standards of the teaching profession: Care, Integrity, Trust, and Respect.  Elizabeth coauthored the 2022 OCT document, Restorative Journey: Indigenous Educational Wellness, which features her essays, paintings, poetry, and photographs of her cornhusk dolls.  She has also written two books, Art of Peace and Dreamfast.  

Doxtater coordinates the “Group of Six”, a grassroots program working with six local youth artists whose work focus on unity through art.  Doxtater notes, “As we revillagize and prepare to hand over the tools for Peace to the approaching faces, sometimes those tools are a canvas and a paintbrush.”

Doxtater is the recipient of the Canadian Senior Artists Resource Network (CSARN) and Toronto Foundation 2021 Visionary Artists Lifetime Award, a 2016 Ontario Arts Council Indigenous Arts Award – Emerging Artist, and is a Six Nations Polytechnic 2015 Community Scholar.