We call on all individuals and organizations to open all
public events and gatherings with acknowledgment of the traditional Native
inhabitants of the land.
For more than five hundred years, Native communities
across the Americas have demonstrated resilience and resistance in the face of
violent efforts to separate them from their land, culture, and each other. They
remain at the forefront of movements to protect Mother Earth and the life the earth
sustains. Today, corporate greed and federal policy push agendas to extract
wealth from the earth, degrading sacred land in blatant disregard of treaty
rights. Acknowledgment is a critical public intervention, a necessary step
toward honoring Native communities and enacting the much larger project of
decolonization and reconciliation. We call on all artists, cultural workers,
public officials, educators, administrators, community leaders, organizers, and
engaged community members to open all public events and gatherings with
acknowledgment of the traditional Native inhabitants of the land.
Acknowledgment by itself is a small gesture. It becomes
meaningful when coupled with authentic relationships and informed action. But
this beginning can be an opening to greater public consciousness of Native
sovereignty and cultural rights, a step toward equitable relationship and
reconciliation. Join us in adopting, calling for, and spreading this practice. Naming
is an exercise in power. Who gets the right to name or be named? Whose stories
are honored in a name? Whose are erased? Acknowledgment of traditional land is
a public statement of the name of the traditional Native inhabitants of a
place. It honors their historic relationship with the land. A Land Acknowledgment
is a formal statement that recognizes the unique and enduring relationship that
exists between Indigenous Peoples and their traditional territories. Laurier
Students’ Public Interest Research Group, Ontario, Canada
WHY INTRODUCE THE PRACTICE OF LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT?
• Offer
recognition and respect.
• Counter the
“doctrine of discovery” with the true story of the people who were already
here.
• Create a broader
public awareness of the history that has led to this moment.
• Begin to repair
relationships with Native communities and with the land.
• Support larger
truth-telling and reconciliation efforts.
• Remind people
that colonization is an ongoing process, with Native lands still occupied due
to deceptive
and broken treaties and practices of eminent domain and
other mechanisms intended to benefit
government or corporate America.
• Take a cue from
Indigenous protocols, opening up spaces with reverence and respect.
• Inspire ongoing
action and relationships.
HOW TO ACKNOWLEDGE
Below are suggested steps to acknowledging traditional
land at the opening of a public gathering or event. The best way to root this
practice in a local context is through dialogue with local Native groups. Not
yet having those relationships doesn’t mean you can’t begin.
STEP ONE: IDENTIFY
The first step is identifying the traditional inhabitants
of the lands you’re on. This task may be complicated by multiple and contested
histories of settlement, resettlement, and recognition. Many places are now
home to Native people who have called that land home from time immemorial and
also to those relocated from elsewhere. The goal of acknowledgment is
recognizing and uplifting, not hurting or causing further division. So it is
important to proceed with care, doing good research before making statements of
acknowledgment.
Here are some places you can look online:
• Wikipedia
entries on many cities document some history of Indigenous inhabitation. Be
sure to crosscheck what you find there with other sources.
• This map of Native Land is one of the more
comprehensive maps available: https://native-land.ca/
• The Native
Languages site offers breakdown by state, with contact information for local
tribes: http://
www.native-languages.org/
In addition to consulting local Native individuals and
organizations, you can check to see if there are resources at local
universities and colleges, especially those with American
Indian/Native/Indigenous Studies centers, programs, and/or departments. If
multiple tribal groups claim belonging to the land, consider not naming one particular
group or naming all of them. Ideally, this decision should be made through
dialogue with local Native elders and culture bearers, respecting their wishes
about how they desire to be named.
STEP TWO:
ARTICULATE
Once you’ve identified the group or groups who should be
recognized, formulate the statement of acknowledgment you’ll share at the
beginning of public gatherings. There is no exact script for this. Craft yours
after considering several levels of detail you might introduce. At its
simplest, an acknowledgment could look like this:
“We acknowledge that we are on the
traditional land of the _________ People.”
Beginning with just this simple sentence would be a
meaningful intervention in most U.S. gathering spaces. From there, there are
many other elements to bring into acknowledgment: Often, statements
specifically honor elders:
“I would like to acknowledge that this
meeting is being held on the traditional lands of the _______ People,
and pay my respect to elders both past and
present.”
Some allude to the caring, reciprocal relationship with
land:
“I want to respectfully acknowledge the
________ People, who have stewarded
this land throughout the generations.”
Acknowledgments may also make explicit mention of the
occupied, unceded nature of the territory in which a gathering is taking place:
“We would like to begin by acknowledging
that the land on which we gather is the
occupied/unceded/seized territory of the
_______ People.”
“I would like to begin by acknowledging
that we are in _____, the ancestral and
unceded territory of the ________ People."
STEP THREE:
DELIVER
Once you’ve identified whom to name and practiced your
statement (including pronunciation of names), offer your acknowledgment as the
first element of a welcome to the next public gathering or event that you host.
If in the process of learning about acknowledgment you’ve built relationships
with members of Native communities, consider inviting them to give a welcome
before yours.
There’s a danger that a practice like this becomes just
another piece of protocol, delivered flatly and falling on deaf ears. How many
times have you spaced out as the flight attendant goes through emergency
procedures? Or failed to silence your cell phone even though that was requested
at the beginning of a show?
Acknowledgment should be approached not as a set of
obligatory words to rush through. These words should be offered with respect,
grounded in authentic reflection, presence, and awareness. As you step up to
offer acknowledgment, breathe in awareness of both the present and of the
histories that connect you with the people you are naming. Consider your own
place in the story of colonization and of undoing its legacy. At your next
gathering, try acknowledgment out, see how it feels, observe how or if it
shifts the room. Over time, through practice, you’ll learn more about what it
means and what it opens up for you and others.
Statements of acknowledgment don’t have to be confined to
spoken words. Some artists, scholars, activists, and others have begun to
include acknowledgment in email signatures or on websites. Consider using
social media to amplify your acknowledgment. For example, post an image or a
story of an event where your acknowledgment was offered, tagging it #HonorNativeLand
to inspire others.
Any space, three-dimensional or digital, presents an
opportunity to surface buried truths and lift up Native sovereignty, priming
our collective culture for deeper truth and reconciliation efforts.
Thank you for this guide. It is very helpful.
ReplyDeleteyes, very helpful to read and understand what is asked for by Indigenous in the US.
ReplyDelete