Land Back Is Therapy

Decolonizing Mental Health on “Canada Day” in Tkaronto

~ Honoring Indigenous Resistance, Exposing Social Work’s Role, and Reimagining Healing on Turtle Island

What I Witnessed Today in Tkaronto

Today, on so-called “Canada Day,” I did not celebrate.I walked — alongside Indigenous land defenders, drummers, Elders, youth, and families — in a ceremonial peace march through Tkaronto, the traditional territory of many nations under the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant on Turtle Island.

Children danced ahead of us with bright ribbons. Drums echoed across concrete. Elders spoke with fierce clarity about what is at stake — not just for Indigenous nations, but for all of us living on this land. It was a grounded, sacred, and peaceful gathering — full of love, grief, and resistance.

I was walking with my dog. A child next to me held the leash of their own young Cavalier pup. We smiled at each other — two people and two animals, quietly sharing space and purpose. We were participating. We were witnessing.

And then, without warning, Toronto Police charged the crowd on horseback, many of whom were actually walking in the opposite direction.

They rammed a horse into me. Into my puppy. Into children.

This wasn’t about law or safety. It was about fear of Indigenous power. About criminalizing ceremony. About violently enforcing colonial silence.And it reminded me — viscerally — why therapy and social work must be accountable to the land we practice on, and the violence we’ve historically and presently been complicit in.

The Violent Roots of Social Work on Turtle Island

Social work in Canada has always been a tool of colonial control. We were not created to protect freedom. We were created to manage people the state deemed “other.”

We played central roles in:

• The residential school system, removing Indigenous children from families under the guise of “care”

• The Sixties Scoop, which tore thousands of children from their communities and placed them in white homes

• The ongoing Millennial Scoop, where over 50% of children in foster care are Indigenous — despite being less than 8% of the child population

These are not just “historical wrongs.” They are active systems of surveillance, dispossession, and trauma. And our profession — even with good intentions — continues to cause harm when we don’t name and uproot our colonial foundations.

We Call on All Citizens…

At today’s march, an Indigenous leader shared this message:

“We call on all citizens on our shared territories to actively resist the systems that continue to harm Indigenous communities, our water, our land, our future generations, and to root yourself in solidarity with Indigenous communities and nations. We need actionable allyship. Land acknowledgments aren't enough. We're in a crucial time that requires immediate response.”

“Indigenous communities and nations are still evacuated far away from their homes right now. Many in different provinces from where they fled, while wildfires are raging across the country. We are up against a capitalist system trying to rape the earth with every last mineral and use every last drop of clean water, leaving nothing but a polluted planet in its wake.”

“With extreme weather events making headlines all year round, and as we head into another predicted to be the hottest yet, climate change caused by resource extraction is a reality that we can no longer ignore.”

“We are no longer asking, but demanding, meaningful, and transformative change because we contribute the least to the devastation of this planet, but we're impacted the hardest and first. We will no longer be pushed off our traditional territories in favor of resource and mining extraction companies, while two levels of government proceed without the consent of the rights and title holders of this entire country.”

What Is Land Back?

Land Back is not a metaphor. It is not charity. It is the material return of Indigenous land and power.

It includes:

🌱 Rematriation of land to Indigenous nations

🌱 Revival of cultural, spiritual, and governance practices

🌱 Protection of water, forests, and ecosystems

🌱 Self-determination in decisions about education, health, territory, and justice

🌱 Collective healing from intergenerational trauma through land-based and community-led care

Land Back is climate justice. It is mental health justice. It is the only path forward.

Why Bill 5 Is So Dangerous

Bill 5, introduced by the Ontario government, gives corporations and developers the green light to destroy Indigenous lands — without Indigenous consent.

It:

-Removes environmental protections

-Bypasses consultation with Indigenous communities

-Accelerates mining and extraction on unceded territories

-Violates treaty relationships and international law (UNDRIP)

-Puts profits over people, water, and future generations

This bill is a direct attack on Indigenous sovereignty and ecological survival. It is violent colonial expansion through legislation.

And it is why people are marching.Why children are dancing.Why communities are grieving and rising.

And it is why the Toronto Police, in full colonial alignment, responded with horses and brute force.

This Cannot Be Normalized

This is not about “a few bad apples.”This is about the state. The police. The laws. The profits. The settler systems.

Let it be clear:Toronto Police rammed horses into peaceful families, children, and dogs during a ceremonial walk.

If you’re shocked, stay shocked.If you’re angry, don’t look away.If you’re silent, ask what side you’re really on.

Why This Matters in Therapy

Therapy cannot be apolitical. Not on stolen land. Not in the shadow of genocide. Not when state violence is ongoing.

If you are a therapist, social worker, or healer and you want to be in integrity, you must:

🔻 Acknowledge colonial trauma — not just personal trauma

🔻 Stop pathologizing Indigenous grief, resistance, and rage

🔻 Understand land, sovereignty, and climate as core to mental health

🔻 Decolonize your practice — theory, space, supervision, structure

🔻 Build relationships of accountability, not just “allyship”

Because without justice, there is no healing.Without land, there is no regulation.Without sovereignty, there is no safety.

What Can You Do?

Learn – Read Indigenous writers and land defenders. Study treaties and UNDRIP.

Listen – Follow Indigenous leadership and don’t center yourself.

Act – Show up. Donate. Call out harm. Pressure your profession.

Shift Practice – Bring this into your therapy room, your teaching, your organizing.

Build Something Better – Healing is collective. It's spiritual. It's land-based. It’s not white, private, and individual.

Final Words

What happened to me and my dog today — being rammed by a police horse at a peaceful march — was terrifying.

But it was nothing compared to what Indigenous communities face every day for daring to exist, resist, and protect the land.

This is why Land Back is therapy.Because what’s happening isn’t just political — it’s psychological, ancestral, spiritual.

We cannot separate our healing from the land beneath our feet.We cannot separate our practice from the systems we uphold.We cannot claim to care about trauma while ignoring colonialism.

Land Back. Therapy forward. Justice always.

Written in Tkaronto, on the stolen land of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Wendat peoples, under the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Covenant. In gratitude and unwavering solidarity with Indigenous nations across Turtle Island. May our actions be as bold as their resistance.