Although racism greeted our ancestors at the border more than 100 years ago and continues today, Black bonding to this place is surprisingly prevalent. We’re rooted in the soil itself, and in our collective story that has imprinted the essence of us here. This imprint is also often felt by more recent waves of Black arrivals to the Prairies, who find resonance in the stories of their Place Ancestors: Black, Indigenous and Indigenous-Black.
I once had a conversation about this connection with my friend Michelle Thrush. Michelle is Cree, but now lives, as I do, on the traditional territory of the