Drafting a Land Acknowledgment for Your Website? Make mistakes
If you’re looking to take actions towards reconciliation within your business, it’s important to do your homework: carefully consider what is meaningful practice, and what might simply be a token gesture.
Land acknowledgments have become fairly common in areas and institutions that consider themselves to be progressive - universities, event openings, public addresses. Many people are familiar with the following: “We would like to begin by acknowledging that the land on which we gather is the traditional [unceded] territory of…”
Intended as powerful and discomforting (and, therefore, effective) statements, land acknowledgments have often turned into routine and monotone performances by those who read or write the words without taking in their meaning.
Are you considering whether or not to add a land acknowledgment to your business website?
I’ll tell you two things - I don’t know whether you should write one, and I can’t write one for you.
Stay with me here, people!
Land acknowledgment - and reconciliation in general - is an attempt to grapple with continued violence, decolonize spaces and processes, and explore ways to work in solidarity with Indigenous peoples. Therefore, outsourcing this work would undermine the intention of that entire project.
However, if you are willing to put time and effort into reconciliation and education, I’m (1) happy to hear it and (2) would like to help.
My intention in creating this blog post is to provide resources and points of consideration to help you determine if writing a land acknowledgment is in integrity for your business.
Please note: this is NOT a perfect resource. I am not an expert on this subject matter, and recognize that I need to become a lifelong student. Thoughts/critiques/questions about this blog post? I am listening.
My sincere thanks to all the following resources, which are instrumental in my continued (re)education.
What is Land Acknowledgment, and Why Does it Matter?
“Land acknowledgements are an honest and historically accurate way to recognize the traditional First Nations, Métis and/or Inuit territories of a place. They can be presented verbally or visually: think signage, short theatre presentations or simple spoken-word greetings. According to Anishinaabe-kwe Wanda Nanibush, the first curator of Indigenous art at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), land acknowledgements have one goal, regardless of format: They commemorate Indigenous peoples’ principal kinship to the land—and the fact that we have not and cannot be erased from her, our collective first mother. “They’re a starting place to a change in how the land is seen and talked about,” she says. “[They] help redefine how people place themselves in relation to First Peoples.”
– Selena Mills, “What are land acknowledgements and why do they matter?”
“To recognize the land is an expression of gratitude and appreciation to those whose territory you reside on, and a way of honouring the Indigenous people who have been living and working on the land from time immemorial. It is important to understand the long standing history that has brought you to reside on the land, and to seek to understand your place within that history. Land acknowledgements do not exist in a past tense, or historical context: colonialism is a current ongoing process, and we need to build our mindfulness of our present participation. It is also worth noting that acknowledging the land is Indigenous protocol.”
– Laurier Students Public Research Group, Know the Land Territories Campaign
“If we think of territorial acknowledgments as sites of potential disruption, they can be transformative acts that to some extent undo Indigenous erasure. I believe this is true as long as these acknowledgments discomfit both those speaking and hearing the words. The fact of Indigenous presence should force non-Indigenous peoples to confront their own place on these lands.”
– Chelsea Vowel, Métis, Beyond Territorial Acknowledgements
How to Acknowledge Territory
“Native Land Digital strives to create and foster conversations about the history of colonialism, Indigenous ways of knowing, and settler-Indigenous relations, through educational resources such as our map and Territory Acknowledgement Guide. We strive to go beyond old ways of talking about Indigenous people and to develop a platform where Indigenous communities can represent themselves and their histories on their own terms. In doing so, Native Land Digital creates spaces where non-Indigenous people can be invited and challenged to learn more about the lands they inhabit, the history of those lands, and how to actively be part of a better future going forward together.”
– Native Land mapping project (learn about the land you’re living on!)
“CAUT strongly encourages academic staff associations to reach out to local Indigenous communities to open pathways for dialogue, specifically to discuss the wording of the acknowledgement. This is important to ensure that it is both respectful and representative, as acknowledgments sometimes change, or specific communities are given prominence depending on the context or the audience in attendance. Also, given that there is no single standard orthography for traditional Indigenous names, this can be an opportunity to ensure correct pronunciation of Indigenous community or nation names.”
– CAUT, Guide to Acknowledging First Peoples & Traditional Territory
“It is important that the land acknowledgement be partially self-written — personalized and catered to both the speaker and the audience. We encourage the speaker to disclose their positionality and what the acknowledgement personally means to them. They should address how the land acknowledgement speaks to the event in question and also how the organizer of the event intends to better serve — in concrete terms — the Indigenous people and the land that they acknowledge.”
– The Varsity Editorial Board, To properly acknowledge Indigenous territory, go off script
“One thing that Indigenous communities regularly charge Canadian institutions and leaders with are empty words –and rightly so. This is often in terms of making false promises with no or partial substantive follow-through. When spoken by persons such as the one I’ve used in my example above, or worse, by people who don’t care and have no intention of further understanding, these acknowledgments are empty words unless followed-through with actions: further investigation and development of knowledge about the traditional territory referenced, one’s history and settlement in the region, listening to the people of that territory, seeking ways to make space in our own communities for those traditional territories to hold weight, just as settler city and province names do as a matter of fact. Otherwise, these acknowledgments serve little else other than courtesies and presentation guidelines alongside wordy PowerPoint dos and don’ts.”
– Jennifer Matsunaga, Thinking Outloud about the Guide to Acknowledging Traditional Territory.
The #1 Tip for Land Acknowledgments?
“Make mistakes.
It is okay to make mistakes. Mistakes are how we learn. And we learn from a young age that making mistakes is wrong and we should avoid making them at all times.
But this creates a paralyses where individuals do not try things out and they don’t learn from them. Be prepared to make a mistake and be prepared to do it right! And be prepared for feedback that may or may not be useful or true, but be prepared to learn.”
– Khelsilem, Liberated Yet? Khelsilem’s Tips for Acknowledging Territory 1.0.
Additional Resources for Land Acknowledgment
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada has a mandate to collect stories of survivors of residential schools and to educate the Canadian public. In 2015, they released a report about the harm committed to Indigenous peoples in residential schools. You can read their full report as well as articles about the Commission’s work on their website.
Groundwork for Change provides information for fellow non-Indigenous people to grow better relationships with Indigenous peoples that are rooted in solidarity and justice.
The Toronto Public Library publishes an annual “Read Indigenous” list (organized into adult, teen and children categories) - increasing exposure to Indigenous voices and perspectives is a great place to start.
Summary
As an effort to grapple with continued violence, decolonize spaces and processes, and explore ways to work in solidarity with Indigenous peoples, land acknowledgment can be an empowering first step to (re)educate both yourself and your clients, and ensure your business is in integrity with the community it is operating in.
However, it’s crucial that land acknowledgment be well-researched, intentional, and personalized - learn, go off script, and be ready to revise.
Will you make a mistake in your land acknowledgment? Absolutely. I’m sure that my own attempt is filled with room for improvement. But remember, as with all things in your business (and life): you are in a constant state of learning, unlearning, and relearning. No one comes into life an expert on anything, and the only way to truly fail at “doing better” is to do nothing at all.
Want to discuss a land acknowledgment for your website, or get some assistance in editing your acknowledgment? I offer editing and co-creating services that can help to make sure that all your (re)education efforts are clearly communicated - let me know how I can help you!
