Alicia Elliott's The Same Space

Underneath the mountainous skyscrapers and the modern cities of Canada, there are unimaginable hidden stories. For hundreds of years, Indigenous communities have embraced their culture and traditions and passed them down through generations. However, when examining the story behind Toronto, yet a shocking reality arose beneath these picturesque images of this city. Millions of acres of land, central to Indigenous identity and survival, have been systematically taken from their control. In this essay, we delve into the systemic land displacement against the Indigenous tribes in Toronto. The idea of land displacement relates to the enforced expulsion of a group of people from their own land and then conquering their culture and homelands, which the enforcement can lead to genocide against this community. The story “The Same Space” by Alicia Elliott, analyzed through a

She explains how the current city of Toronto, which was supposed to be named “Tkaronto” does not represent its original and traditional identity – “No trace of Indigenous history is etched into these sidewalks, illuminated by these streetlights, cemented between these bricks-not when I lived here years ago, and not today.” (Elliott 50), indicating erasure of the Indigenous history, leaving no trace behind. Toronto's shiny buildings and streets don't show any history of Indigenous people. It's a city that forgot who lived there first, representing Indigenous communities as outsiders. Additionally, Elliott writes about the fact that old habitats are also diminished in society. The Six Nations was a community that “was supposed to be treated as one collective dish each nation had to share, hunting an equal but sustainable amount of game. All would eat from that dish together, using a beaver tail spoon instead of a knife to ensure there was no accidental bloodshed which might lead to intentional