It is our understanding at Validate Mental Health Consultants that many Indigenous folks find land acknowledgments performative, and we feel that including one only serves to assuage our discomfort with Canada's genocidal history, which we benefit from daily. In lieu of a land acknowledgment, we encourage anyone who benefits from settler colonialism, including ourselves, to reflect on the systemic inequities our institutions are built on and to educate ourselves on how they can be dismantled and how concrete change can be effected. Part of reconciliation is about decolonizing our thinking, our attitudes, our strategies and the ways we engage with the world.

 

We also commit to learning from Indigenous people, educating ourselves, supporting Indigenous businesses, supporting policy change with positive impact for Indigenous communities, volunteering and donating to Indigenous organizations and celebrating Indigenous film, television, art, music, literature, culture, knowledge and practices.    ​