All are invited tomorrow for the opening ceremony for our Friendship Garden from 3-4pm

Heartland Forest is located on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, Hatiwendaronk and Anishinaabek, including the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. The land is also under the Dish With One Spoon Treaty and the Upper Canada Treaties.

In partnership with the Niagara Aboriginal Area Management Board (NPAAMB), Heartland Forest created a Friendship Garden in 2021 highlighting the cultural importance of wet meadow species to the local Indigenous community. Native species were selected for their sustainability based on site conditions and also for their cultural significance to the Indigenous community. Through our partnership with NPAAMB, Louis Harris (currently on staff) is a member of the The Six Nations with an environmental background. He spent the summer of 2021 collaborating on garden design and researching the traditional use of species native to Ontario by Indigenous peoples. A three sisters garden was planted in the middle of the design with heritage seeds donated by seed keeper, Terrylynn Brant from Six Nations. Native wildflower species, sage, cedars and staghorn sumac were purchased from Six Nations nursery – Kayanase Greenhouse.

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