The Kutenai Art Therapy Institute (KATI) is nestled here in the mountains, next to nt̓ iltxítkw River. We honour the ancestors who have cared for this land for thousands of years before settlers arrived here.
At KATI, we do our best to tread lightly on this unceded territory of the Sinixt Peoples and respect that this land was also cared for by the Ktunaxa, Secwepemc, and Sylix Peoples. We acknowledge that the Sinixt community has fought tirelessly to eradicate false notions of extinction and that this is just one example of the harmful impacts of historical and continuing colonization. As an educational institution, we have a responsibility to support the preservation and reclamation of local, national and global Indigenous rights.
We value the land as co-facilitator in creative arts therapies. We give respect to the Indigenous land-based and healing arts practices that pre-date all Eurocentric theories of art therapy. We honour the many teachings that we have received from local and visiting Indigenous knowledge keepers. We lift up and celebrate our Indigenous students, faculty, and alumni.
We continue to reflect and refine our efforts to train culturally responsive art therapists. Although this is not an easy task and there are no clear answers, we will continue to hold a collective space for truth telling, for listening, for unsettling, for creativity, for reclamation, for transformation.