The Dish With One Spoon Covenant

Three million acres of land, including the area we know as the City of Guelph, was acquired by the Crown for the purposes of settlement in late 18th century from the Mississaugas via the “Between the Lakes Purchase” – a space that was stewarded pre-contact by several Anishinaabeg Nations, including the Attawandaron, Huron, Wendat, the Mississaugas, and others.

After contact, and as a result of both colonization and war with the United States, many Indigenous people were displaced, or – in the case of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (made up of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora) – moved to the Haldimand Tract – 6 miles of land on either side of the Grand River spanning 950 thousand acres. Today, much of the land promised (almost 95%) has been taken back by the Crown.

Despite the marginalization and attempted genocide of the Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island, the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit have continued to act as stewards of this land; resiliently resisting to ensure that this land we call home is protected, sustained, and nurtured – so that all of us can live and thrive here. Before colonization, the local Indigenous peoples enshrined this responsibility via the Dish With One Spoon Wampum.

Richard Hill, a citizen of the Tuscarora Nation, describes the Dish With One Spoon Wampum this way:

“The idea was that this beautiful earth that was given to us is like a dish, and inside that dish is everything for us to be healthy and to be fed. So, all the plants, the animals, the birds…and the concept was: we’re all going to share from the dish with the same spoon. Everybody gets their equal share; everybody gets an opportunity to take that. So it’s about sharing the resources of this land. But in order to share it, there are some simple rules. One is you only take what you need right now – feed yourself, make yourself well. You always leave something in the dish for other people so they can enjoy it as well. And you keep the dish clean; you don’t pollute your kitchen; you don’t pollute where your food comes from.” (Richard Hill: Ep4 – Oral History)

This treaty, this covenant, is one we must strive to follow in our classroom, in the School of Computer Science, and beyond – in everything we do. It speaks to our collective responsibility to work together to steward and sustain the land and environment in which we live and work, so that all peoples, present and future, may benefit from the sustenance it provides.

As we work to strengthen our relationships with and continue to learn from our Indigenous neighbours, we recognize the partnerships and knowledge that have guided the learning and research conducted in and for this class. The community-engaged work described in this textbook has been shaped by these relationships, reciprocal learning, and responsibilities to community, including Indigenous communities and ways of knowing.

Community Partners

Since 2012, the students in Systems Analysis & Design in Application have benefited from the lived experience and expertise of numerous community partners. Working with them has also provided us the opportunity to develop a set of evolving best practices when combining community-engaged learning with software design.

Thank you to the Guelph Wellington Food Round Table, The Guelph Wellington Poverty Task Force, The Guelph Food Working Group, The Guelph Community Health Centre, The SEED Community Food Hub, The Appleseed Collective, Transition Guelph, The Upper Grand District School Board, Meal Exchange (National and Guelph Chapter), The Agricultural Research Extension Trust of Malawi, Community Living Cambridge, Dufferin Wellington Guelph Public Health, University of Guelph First Response Team, and The Grove.

A special thanks to Kate Vsetula and Lisa Needham, our first community contacts (and winners of the University of Guelph Student Life’s Emilie Hayes Community Partner Award), for being willing to work with a novice faculty member who had never taught Systems Analysis & Design in Application or partnered with the community before to 2012.

Students

A huge thank you to the students who continue to embrace community-engaged learning. We are especially grateful to the students who continued projects beyond the classroom – in some cases, even beyond the completion of their degrees. We are equally appreciative of those who returned to volunteer time and expertise during the various prototyping sessions.

Community of Support

We would be remiss if we didn’t thank the countless volunteers (staff, students, alumni, and community) who have offered their assistance during the delivery of this course. A non-exhaustive list of people who have contributed to the success of the classroom includes Lauren, Kyle, Laura, Patricia, Kate, Emma, Dan, Danny, Nic, Patrick, Marshall, Jarrett, Fatemeh, Andrew, Judi, Andria, Shoshanah, Amy, Ryan, and more.

Funding Partners

Funding to support experimentation with community-engaged learning in Systems Analysis & Design in Application was provided by a University of Guelph Teaching & Learning Innovations Research Grant and a Physical Sciences & Engineering Education Research Centre Grant.