Gratitude

As I stand in the direction of the northern door, which, in many Indigenous cultures, represents the spiritual realm of knowing, being, and doing, I can only think of one word that sums up how I feel about this professional and personal journey of reconciliation and responsible citizenship: gratitude.

As many of you may have gathered by now, I love music; I recently stumbled upon a brilliant, Canadian rock duo, and I thought it was perfect for the ending of my book. I could have included a more traditional song, like the ones included in our opening and closing ceremony, but this one answers the question posed by Wagamese — how I feel about this journey of reconciliation and my role as a responsible citizen. Before you access the video, I share a little bit about the artists in this excerpt from Wikipedia. You may also wish to explore their works at Crown Lands.

“Crown Lands is a Canadian rock music duo from Oshawa, Ontario.[1] The band consists of vocalist/drummer Cody Bowles, and guitarist/bassist/keyboardist Kevin Comeau.[1][2] With prog-rock influences, the duo compose music and lyrics inspired by Indigenous resistance to colonialism.[3] They have stated that their name, ‘Crown Lands,’ communicates a desire to disrupt the concept of Canadian ‘crown land,’ or government-held lands stolen from First Nations.[4]

Crown Lands won the Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2021.[5] The band were also nominated for Rock Album of the Year.[6] Their sophomore album Fearless was nominated for Rock Album of the Year at the 2024 Juno Awards.[7]” (Wikipedia, 2025).

I now invite you to listen to Feeling Good. Please check out the lyrics, which are also accessible there.

Msit No’kmaq ~ Wahkohtowin ~ All my Relations

Strong Running Buffalo