The members of this doula collective live, work and play on land that is currently known as the Grand River Watershed. Most of the hospital births we attend are at Cambridge Memorial, Guelph General, Grand River, and Groves Memorial Hospitals, all of which are located near the many rivers that make up this system. When we were looking at names, we wanted something that represented the location in which we live and work. 

O:se Kenhionhata:tie, the Kanien'kehà:ka (Mohawk) name for this river, means where the willows grow, or Willow River. We chose to use the traditional name for this region rather than the colonized name as part of our movement towards reconciliation. We recognize that we live on stolen land, in this case, doubly stolen.  The Haldimand Treaty of 1784 granted six miles on either side of O:se Kenhionhata:tie to the Mohawk people and the Six Nations after The British-American war (The American Revolution). This was a brazen and shameless move as prior to colonization, all land in Turtle Island (North America) belonged to the Indigenous Peoples. After the government restricted Six Nations movement to the Haldimand tract, this land was then illegally sold off to various settler groups or given to settlers through further treaties that were not honored. You can learn more about the Haldimand Treaty here.