Guided Walk: Walking as Land Acknowledgement

Join Saulteaux/Métis educator and memory activist Sam Howden and settler scholar and artist Andrew Lochhead on a guided walk, bringing the idea of Land Acknowledgements out of the Bata Shoe Museum’s walls and onto the Land itself, in the area currently known as The Annex.

Land acknowledgements can be powerful. At their best, they affirm belonging, recognize ongoing injustices, and help build meaningful relationships between people and the more-than-human world around us. But as these practices become more institutionalized, they can risk feeling routine—words spoken without deeper action toward Indigenous sovereignty or true settler–Indigenous conciliation.

Together, we’ll follow the paths of buried streams, discover native plant species and traditional medicines, observe urban wildlife, and explore layers of local history and architecture. Along the way, we’ll reflect on walking as a form of witnessing—and consider the social and political complexities of moving through treaty Land, especially when the treaties that govern it have so often been broken.

This is an invitation to slow down, listen closely, and think differently about our relationship to the Land beneath our feet.

The walk will take up to two hours. Please wear comfortable shoes. Walks recommended for 16+.

About the Facilitator / Artist / Curator / Speaker

Sam Howden, MSW, BSW, RSW (they/them) is an Indigenous social worker and educator. 

Their scholarly work focuses on autoethnographic approaches to storytelling in the context of student memory activism at what is now called Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). Specifically their thesis project focussed on efforts to address the commemoration of Egerton Ryerson, that would lead to the removal of the Ryerson statue on campus, and the subsequent decision to rename the university. Sam’s practice in both academics and social work is guided by a deep connection to Land, and principles of humility, service, and relational accountability informed by their experiences as a traditional helper in lodge and ceremony. 

Sam is of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry. Their relations on their father’s side are Red River Métis (Soto/Saulteaux), belonging to the family names Gladu and Dease. Their father also has mixed European ancestry from the British Isles (Howden) and Eastern Europe (Olynick/Bileski). Their mother was adopted and raised in a French Canadian family, and later found that their biological parents belonged to Dutch (Borsboom), French, and English (Henri) ancestry. 

Sam currently works as a contract lecturer at TMU in the Department of Social Work, and maintains a private therapy practice.

Andrew Lochhead, is an artist and scholar who uses walking as a form of creative practice and research to bring to life stories about the city in ways that orient audiences toward imagining justice-based futures. A lifelong museum and gallery professional, Andrew has been an outspoken advocate for understanding how monuments, place names, and other forms of commemoration shape people’s relationships to places and to each other. His work as part of the public history campaign around the name of Dundas Street has contributed to significant changes to Toronto’s toponymic landscape, the development of new commemorative policy, and ongoing conversations about who or what Canada’s largest city remembers. Andrew’s research and activism has been featured in a number of documentary films and programs, including the BAFTA Award winning Scotland, Slavery, and Statues. His PhD dissertation explores the role of walking in interpreting urban heritage landscapes.