Land acknowledgment

The Victoria Coalition for Survivors of Torture (VCST) is a volunteer-run non-profit organization that operates predominantly from the unceded territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən-speaking People, today known as the Songhees and  Xʷsépsəm (Esquimalt) First Nations, and the W̱SÁNEĆ First Nations (the W̱SÍ,ḴEM, W̱JOȽEȽP, SȾÁUTW̱, and BOḰEĆEN nations). Our board members contribute to VCST from across the land we now call Canada, including the Leey’qsun First Nation of the Quw’utsun Nation, the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation and the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territories. We come from many cultures and backgrounds, from North and Central America, Europe, Africa, and West Asia. 

As an organization concerned about torture throughout the world, we recognize that torture is deeply connected to the brutality of colonization. Torture is one of many colonial tools used to dispossess the lək̓ʷəŋən-speaking Peoples, W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples, and all the Indigenous Peoples of this nation from their lands, languages and cultures, along with the Indian Hospitals, Residential Schools and the Indian Act of 1876. Many newcomer survivors of torture living in our communities also come from countries that have experienced colonization. By acknowledging land and territory, we commit to understanding the unmeasurable ways that colonization shows up in our daily lives and in the communities we serve. We honour the Songhees and Xʷsépsəm First Nations, the nations of the W̱SÁNEĆ, and all the nations where we do our work, as these Nations have directly experienced colonization – both past and present – on these lands where we now have the privilege to reside.