On whose land we practice — and what that asks of us.

The Branches Yoga is located in downtown Kitchener — what is now called Waterloo Region, in southwestern Ontario, Canada. We acknowledge that we live, work, and practise on the traditional territories of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples.

Our studio sits on the Haldimand Tract — land granted to the Six Nations of the Grand River in 1784 as compensation for land lost when those nations sided with the British during the American Revolution. The Tract included six miles on each side of the Grand River, from its source to its mouth. Today the Six Nations retain less than five per cent of that original allocation.

We name this not as a ritual, but because honesty is the precondition of any meaningful action. The studio sits on land that was promised to others, that was taken, and that has not been returned.

What we are doing

• An annual financial commitment to Indigenous-led organizations and reparative funds in our region. We publish the recipients and amounts in our annual community report.
• Free studio rental for Indigenous-led wellness, healing, and community programming. Reach out at any time.
• Ongoing study and conversation in our teacher trainings about yoga's history, its appropriation, and the responsibilities of teaching it on stolen land.
• Material support for Indigenous teachers and practitioners who want training credit, scholarships, or studio time.

Where we still fall short

Land acknowledgments are easy. The harder work — meaningful relationships, reparative giving at scale, structural change in who runs and benefits from the studio — is slower than we want it to be. We'd rather name that than pretend otherwise.

Resources we've learned from

• Whose Land — interactive map of treaties and territories.
• Native-Land.ca — a global resource for understanding Indigenous territories.
• Six Nations of the Grand River — the local Indigenous government whose territory includes the Haldimand Tract.