August 9th is International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples and the theme is “Leaving no one behind: Indigenous peoples and the call for a new social contract”.

What is a social contract?

According to un.org:

A social contract is an unwritten agreement that societies make to cooperate for social and economic benefits. In many countries, where indigenous peoples were driven from their lands, their cultures and languages denigrated and their people marginalized from political and economic activities, they were never included in the social contract to begin with. The social contract was made among the dominant populations.

Today provides us with an opportunity to celebrate our Indigenous brothers and sisters and contemplate the roles and responsibilities that we have in the journey to reconciliation.

We must also take a stand to acknowledge and eliminate the injustices and the systemic racism Indigenous peoples have faced historically and continue to face today.

Heritage Mississauga’s mandate is to research, record, and celebrate the rich and diverse culture and history of Mississauga and we invite you to apply this mandate to learning about the 476 million Indigenous Peoples living in 90 countries across the world!.

Resources:

https://www.un.org/en/observances/indigenous-day/resources

https://heritagemississauga.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/LegendoftheCouncilFire.pdf

https://heritagemississauga.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/The-Credit-River-Website-Document-June-2-2021.pdf

#ApartTogether we stand with our Indigenous brothers and sisters around the world.