Filmed across beloved landmarks in St. John’s – including Signal Hill, Quidi Vidi, and Cape Spear – the Land Acknowledgement video centres Indigenous voice, spirit, and presence right where it belongs.
Spoken entirely in Mi’kmaw, Innu-aimun, and Inuktitut, with English subtitles, the video is a powerful act of Indigenous resurgence. In a place where Indigenous language and ceremony were once silenced, our words now rise with pride and purpose.
As the only Indigenous-led organization in St. John’s, First Light is often asked to deliver land acknowledgments. But this work is more than protocol – it is living truth. It’s an act of visibility, justice, and love for the communities we serve. It reflects our commitment to honouring story and spirit as pathways to systemic change.
After sharing our living land acknowledgement, we encourage you to share the acknowledgement below as a sign of your commitment to being an active participant in the truth and reconciliation process.
This acknowledgement is a sample/suggestion and these acknowledgements can be customized.
As a demonstration of allyship we encourage you to share the ways that you or your organization are actively participating in reconciliation as an acknowledgement of your commitment.
Acknowledgement
St. John’s is home to a rich, diverse, and vibrant urban Indigenous community. Located on the ancestral and unceded territory of the Beothuk, the lands and waters in and around the City have traditionally served as a gathering place for the Mi’kmaq. The broader region of Newfoundland and Labrador continues to be home to diverse Indigenous Peoples, including First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. We honour and pay respect to the past, present, and future caretakers of these territories.
The spirit of Mercy is alive, vibrant and visible!
She requested entrance to the Sisters of Mercy in 1911 and made first profession in 1914.After her profession she was assigned to Immaculate Conception Convent in Conception Harbour, where she spent the entirety of her religious life. According to Sister Kathrine, Sister M. Rosarii was one of the “hidden“ Sisters of Mercy who spent her days looking after the kitchen and the day-to-day running of the convent.
Over the next several years she devoted herself to caring for her brother’s children and translating Greek and Latin classics. The Sisters of Mercy arrived in St. John’s in June of 1842 and sometime later that year she entered the community. The Presentation Archives noted that she had “at last found her true home.”