Zibi development would destroy site considered sacred
Victoria Island, Chaudière Island, and the Chaudière Falls are the most sacred area for all Anishinabe people — from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains.
The late William Commanda — Algonquin elder, spiritual leader, keeper of Wampum Belts, and hereditary chief — continually stressed the significance of this sacred site. For thousands of years in Ottawa, the Algonquins hosted all Anishinabe nations and Southern nations, including the Haudenosaunee. In the Algonquin language, Odawa (Ottawa) means “place to come in peace and trade.”
In 1998, the NCC started working on plans to honour the sacred site for its original purpose. Sadly, condos speak louder than words, and once again we are fighting for the protection of this profoundly sacred site.
These beautiful, sacred waterfalls and islands lie at a symbolic confluence of waters: the rivers flow into the centre from the South, West and North, and in turn flow to the East. Similarly, our own ceremonial lodges embrace the four directions and are opened to the East. Furthermore, the Chaudière Falls create a great kettle — a whirlpool that brings water deep into the earth. With the uprising mist and the surrounding rock forms, the falls appear as a sacred pipe, sculpted by the Creator. In our ancestral memory, we have practised our ceremonies here since time immemorial. It is where we shared the best of who we are in the past, and it is where we will share the best of who we are in the future.
I grew up in a society where my spiritual ceremonies were denied to me. As we now know, the dominant society was perpetuating crimes against humanity, according to Canada’s own legislation. It is only recently that Canada recognizes the right to our ceremonies through freedom of religion. However, we need our sacred site to practise our ceremonies. If the Canadian government is serious about reconciliation, it will embrace this opportunity in the nation’s capital to make arrangements so that this can be so.
Could you imagine what indigenous artists, architects, engineers, builders, healers and ecologists might create, given the opportunity to use their full creativity? That is what we want to do with this sacred site: share the best of what we are to the rest of Canada and to the world.
At one point, the City of Ottawa and the NCC were taking steps to honour and acknowledge the indigenous peoples by zoning the area “open space and public park.” Today, they want to rezone the sacred site for condo development; we are challenging this in court.
The colonization process is still in full effect in Canada. The government wants to continue to disenfranchise our spirituality and connectedness with Mother Earth by building condos on our sacred site. Zibi’s condo and commercial development would forever destroy the sacredness of the site with a permanent and privatized settlement, taking away our right for protection of our ceremonies.
Simply said, giving our lands to a private industry to make profit out of our inherent rights is a continuation of genocide and apartheid. The industrial exploitation of our sacred site was a great offence to our indigenous peoples. Zibi, the Algonquin word for “river,” is a red-washed commercial exploitation, which further insults, disrespects and abuses that which is sacred to us.
The government promised to return the islands to the indigenous peoples. We want to practise our sacred ceremonies in the ancient sacred site; we want to share our culture and traditions with everyone. Reconciliation means restitution. It means making amends. We need this sacred site to practise our ceremonies; taking it away from us for profane use is furthering the consciousness of apartheid and genocide by our dominant culture.