We sing with gratitude that The Art of Soil Collective does the majority of its work on Treaty 3 land and therefore is subject to the (1794) “Between the Lakes Purchase” a formal agreement between the British Crown and certain of the Mississauga peoples. Guelph and Wellington County is also in the 'Dish With One Spoon Territory,’ a 1764 treaty between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee that bound them to share the territory and protect the land. The "Dish", or sometimes it is called the "Bowl" represents what is now southern Ontario, from the Great Lakes to Quebec and from Lake Simcoe into the United States. *We all eat out of the Dish, all of us that share this territory, with only one spoon. That means we have to share the responsibility of ensuring the dish is never empty, which includes taking care of the land and the creatures we share it with.
Our most fundamental commitment is to actually take up, collectively and with effort, that responsibility; doing whatever we can with the organic, careful, loving & peaceful growing & tending & gathering of food, flowers and medicines, and our care of the waters, to ensure that “the dish is never empty.” We understand that that dish is ONE from which all creatures, past, present and especially far into the future way beyond our time here on this land, are nourished, truly nourished in all their wholeness, not just us, the two-legged featherless upright ones. We also promise to do everything we can to share our work fairly and peaceably, and also share whatever trials, losses, gains, joys, griefs and feasts come along with that.

It is written that subsequent Indigenous Nations and peoples, Europeans and all newcomers have been invited into this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship and respect. Our projects are taken up in the spirit of that immense on-going open-hearted hospitality, and we will do everything we can, in our work together, to build peace, extend friendship and show in every action, our respect for all that exists, especially our common Mother, mother Earth. May our work be on the path to rectification and healing of whatever needs healing. We humbly admit that we do not know whether it always will be, and we are here to learn from our mistakes, as we try our best, to work with the weave of the fabric of life, rather than against the grain. (artofsoilcollective@gmail.com)