Sacred Fire

A path leading to the Sacred Fire near the edge of the Speed River with 4 large boulders surrounding it.
Local First Nations, Métis, Mixed Ancestry, Inuit have come together to create a Sacred Fire space located in Royal City Park.

Indigenous groups use the Sacred Fire for spiritual gatherings including celebration, prayer, gratitude and personal healing. Fire Keepers support local Indigenous groups using the sacred fire according to their own unique traditions. Fire Keepers stay with the fire at all times.

The location was chosen for its proximity to the merging rivers, a meeting point for Original Peoples.

About the Sacred Fire

This Sacred Fire was designed by representatives of the local First Nations, Métis, Inuit and Mixed Ancestry community to reflect the Original Peoples of the land on which we reside.

The importance of gathering in circle for community, cultural and ceremonial purposes is shared across Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island (North America).

This Sacred Fire is one of the ways the City of Guelph has chosen to honour the traditions of the many Original Peoples who live here today.

Territorial acknowledgement

As we gather, let us take time to reflect on our privilege to live and work in Guelph; a city built over rich Indigenous histories. We are guests here, and we should reflect upon the responsibility to care for this land, the people who live here today, and the generations to come. If our actions today can move us towards reconciliation, we should take pause and make those decisions with intention and gratitude.

This place we call Guelph has served as traditional lands and a place of refuge for many peoples over time, but more specifically the Attiwonderonk, and the Haudenosaunee. This land is held as the treaty lands and territory with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. Guelph lies directly adjacent to the Haldimand Tract and is part of a long-established traditional hunting ground for the Six Nations of the Grand River. Many First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples who have come from across Turtle Island call Guelph home today.

Pronunciation guide