A Message to Our Ancestors
There is something deeply powerful about taking a moment to remember those who came before us.
As Indigenous people, ancestors are not simply people who existed in the past. In many of our teachings, relationships with ancestors can remain an important part of identity, culture, spirituality, and belonging. Our ancestors carried stories, teachings, languages, traditions, love, resilience, and knowledge through generations. Because of them, we are here.
To our ancestors: we remember you.
We remember the strength it took to carry your families, your communities, and your traditions forward. We honour the knowledge you protected and the teachings you shared. We recognize that some of what was passed down came through joy and celebration, while some came through profound hardship and loss.
We also acknowledge that many of our ancestors experienced displacement, discrimination, cultural suppression, and attempts to separate them from their languages, families, lands, and traditions. Yet despite these experiences, so much endured. Songs continued. Stories continued. Teachings continued. Relationships continued. Culture continued.
And that is something worth honouring.
A message to our ancestors does not have to be complicated. It can simply be:
Thank you for making a way for us.
Thank you for the strength you carried when the path was difficult.
Thank you for the teachings that survived.
We are still here.
For many Indigenous people, remembering ancestors can also be a way of remembering who we are. Their lives are part of our story, but their legacy is not only something we look backward toward. It can guide how we move forward, with kindness, courage, humility, respect, and responsibility to those who will come after us.
We carry more than our own stories.
We carry the hopes of those who came before us, and we have an opportunity to carry something forward for those who have not yet arrived. Every time culture is honoured, a language is spoken, a story is shared, a teaching is remembered, or a young person learns where they come from, that connection continues.
So perhaps our message to our ancestors is simply this:
We have not forgotten you..
We carry you with us.
We honour what you gave us.
And we will do our best to carry the teachings forward with love.
Because while generations may separate us in time, love, memory, culture, and spirit can continue to connect us.
