Project Description:

Wahta: Honoring the Leader of Trees is a community planting project in London, Ontario. This year, 22 high school students from the Head, Heart, Hands Environmental Learning Program will work alongside Oneida educator Patsy Day of Kaswentha Two Row Now and community education staff from the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) to plant 15 Wahta (Sugar Maples) at Westminster Ponds.

Patsy will read the story Maple Moon by Connie Brummel Crook, which tells the story of how Maple was discovered. Afterward, students will make a small "birch" box to take home. This craft honors the traditional use of birch bark for making the spouts and baskets used to collect, store, and trade maple syrup. Following Wahta teachings, the group will take active stewardship of the land by planting 15 sugar maple trees.

This initiative is inspired by the Two Row Wampum, drawing from Indigenous knowledge and Western conservation to promote friendship and peaceful co-existence. Through hands-on planting and storytelling, the project turns local green spaces into living classrooms, fostering a sense of belonging for youth and taking active steps toward reconciliation.