Increase your understanding of respectful ways to acknowledge the contributions Native Americans continue to have on our communities and the natural world around us. Join us in the February's First Monday Update to discover more about the importance and relevance of land acknowledgements.

Do we really have to say the land acknowledgement statement before every presentation at Convention?
Isn’t one time enough? What really is the point?
I’ve said the land acknowledgement in my first presentation at Convention, why do I need to say it again?

A territorial acknowledgement, as they have evolved, is sort of a political statement encouraging primarily non-Indigenous people to recognize that they're on Indigenous land and hopefully do something about it.

A Land Acknowledgement is a formal statement that recognizes the unique and enduring relationship that exists between Indigenous Peoples and their traditional territories.

Land acknowledgements are a good first step, but there’s a lot more work to be done
My kids hear a land acknowledgement each morning at school. But will hearing it every day help kids absorb that info or will it become background noise? In hundreds of schools across Canada, the morning announcements start the same way, with a land acknowledgement stating that the building is located in the traditional territory of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples (FNMI). You may have heard something similar at a civic event or fundraiser—for many non-Indigenous Canadians, it’s one of the first introductions to the idea of reconciliation.

Territory acknowledgement is a way that people insert an awareness of Indigenous presence and land rights in everyday life. This is often done at the beginning of ceremonies, lectures, or any public event. It can be a subtle way to recognize the history of colonialism and a need for change in settler colonial societies.

As an Indigenous scholar, ethical practice is rooted in cultural protocols and in this I acknowledge that I have experienced many transformative approaches which reflect teachings from these lands. Therefore, I acknowledge the territories for facilitating and assisting in the development of Indigenous leadership, pedagogies and transformation within academia. The relationships we develop within these territories can assist in spiritual, emotional, physical and mental well-being for students, administrators and faculty. I also acknowledge that it is a form of respect, wherever we live, to find out whose traditional territory we are on because every part of what is now known as Canada is someone’s Indigenous traditional territory.

Indigenous writer Selena Mills illustrates the importance of land acknowledgements—and shares perspectives about this newly popular form of reconciliation

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"There have always been indigenous peoples in the spaces we call home, and there always will be."

A territorial or land acknowledgement is an act of reconciliation that involves making a statement recognizing the traditional territory of the Indigenous people who called the land home before the arrival of settlers, and in many cases still do call it home.