EDITOR ' S GREETING
In Defense of Land Acknowledgments
YOU ARE AT A CONFERENCE , and the welcoming
speech includes a formal land acknowledgment . The speaker lists the Indigenous peoples who currently or once lived in the local city or perhaps entire state . You may wonder why one group was left out or why on earth another group was mentioned , pull out your smartphone , and begin scrolling through NAGPRA Notices of Intent to Repatriate of local sites to understand the connection . Then the first session begins , and the moderator reiterates the land acknowledgment . Then every single speaker begins their talk with that same statement . The next session follows suit , and this is repeated the second and third day .
My initial encounters with land acknowledgments like this left me thinking they were bombastic , overblown , and insincere . Long-winded land acknowledgments are too often issued as if they were royal decrees . But at an Association of Tribal Libraries , Museums , and Archives conference , the ( almost all Native ) speakers briefly thanked the tribe whose lands we met on that day . Their sincere expressions of gratitude changed my mind , and I began incorporating brief acknowledgments into my own public speaking events .
This morning I write to you from within the historical lands of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes . This magazine is printed , trimmed , and bound within historical lands of the Arapaho , Cheyenne , and Ute .
The acknowledgments or “ welcomes to country ” have been commonplace in Australia and New Zealand among Indigenous communities for centuries . The practice spread to Canada and is making its way south . In Spanish , the statement is known as reconocimiento de tierras . As the practice spreads , however , so do the backlashes and critiques .
A CBC article with the dramatic headline , “‘ I regret it ’: Hayden King on writing Ryerson University ' s territorial acknowledgement ” made the rounds last summer and is still circulating online . Hidden within the article was a statement by King ( Beausoleil Ojibwe / Potawatomi ): “ Now , in other circumstances , where you ’ re in less privileged spaces and maybe the acknowledgment is just evolving for the first time , then it does have the power to compel a conversation . And that ’ s helpful .” 1 Museums , colleges , and cultural nonprofits generate land acknowledgments , but outside of these , the statements remain rare throughout most of the Americas .
I have assisted a few institutions with their land acknowledgments and feel it is important to consider the statement a working document . Community feedback is important , as is information about early tribes , which is not always easy to research . Some might want land acknowledgments to be a
feel-good activity , but the reality — particularly for the Caribbean and Eastern Woodlands — is that many tribal communities perished from disease , warfare , slavery , and displacement wrought by European colonists before being written about , and we simply do not know their names today . We may never know what they called themselves , but we can hold space for these peoples . Also , Native peoples traveled . The European or Asian model of peasants tied to the land , never to venture beyond their villages , does not carry over in the Americas . What time period do you trace ? Do you try to trace them all ? Is that even possible ?
A good place to start is native-land . ca , a volunteer project created by Victor G . Temprano , but you must follow up with your own research . The website clearly states : “ This map is not perfect — it is a work in progress with tons of contributions from the community .” They will update their map if you furnish citations for your corrections ; I ’ ve been able to do so . They tend to err on the side of making the territories much larger than they were , and that is difficult to correct .
1 . Rosanna Deerchild , “‘ I regret it ’: Hayden King on writing Ryerson University ’ s territorial acknowledgment ,” CBC Radio , January 18 , 2019 , web .
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