Take care of the land and she will take care of you
-Elder Mooshum Peter O’Chiese
Our Purpose
The Anishinaabek Land Trust works to restore and renew Anishinaabek governance, teachings, and relationships with the land.
We can acheive this by our connection with land. Through obtaining lands that are held outside of the Indian Act, and caring for them with First Nations knowledge and western science through a two-eyed seeing approach, the intention for these lands is that they become places where original teachings, language, and ways of living with the land can be practiced and shared.
Addtionally, this work aims to walk hand in hand with mainstream Canadians to lead the way to understanding and demonstrating the spirit and intent of the Original treaties - that the Land was to be shared equally as deep as the plough, and where First Peoples would guide newcomers in how to see, understand, use, and care for the Land.
Through this approach, we form the ground for healing of intergenerational wounds, and healing across divides. Through this approach we create the opportunities for learning, friendship, and shared responsibility that benefit future generations.
Our Areas of Focus
First Nations Knowledge Systems
Living Relationship with the Land
Restoring Original Governance
Passing Knowledge to Future Generations
What We Do
Restoring Our Relationship with the Land (Ahki)
Reconnecting with the natural world is central to restoring identity, knowledge, and responsibility.
For First Nations people, returning to the Land and learning from the earth strengthens connections to language, teachings, and place. These relationships support healing from the impacts of colonization and help restore pride, purpose, and belonging. For settlers, this work offers a different but equally important opportunity - to understand the original spirit of the treaties and kinship between peoples and wildlife. It invites a shift from viewing Land as a resource to understanding it as sentient and as a relationship of give and take, guided by those whose knowledge is rooted in it.
The land is not just a resource. It is a teacher. Through it, knowledge systems and governance are remembered, practiced, and carried forward, creating a shared path forward grounded in respect, responsibility, and relationship.
Holistic Land & Life Strategy
The Anishinaabek Land Trust works to establish lands that are held outside of the Indian Act, creating space for land use and decision-making grounded in original laws, teachings, and responsibilities.
This work reflects the original spirit of the treaties - that the land was to be shared. That sharing was never about ownership, but about relationship, responsibility, and mutual benefit, with guidance coming from First Peoples whose knowledge is rooted in the land.
These lands create opportunities to live those relationships in practice, where use of the land is informed by the land itself, and by the knowledge systems that come from it.
Revitalizing Inherited Stewardship
Through community-led projects, the Land Trust supports the understanding and protection of culturally significant species, traditional medicines, and species at risk.
This work is grounded in lived relationships with the land and informed by knowledge passed from First Peoples through generations.
By bringing together land-based knowledge and western science through a two-eyed seeing approach, these initiatives strengthen how knowledge is applied and carried forward in meaningful, practical ways.