Land Acknowledgement (and action plan)
Pre Questions:
How many Indigenous territories can you name?
Do you know where these territories are?
Do you know the name of the Indigenous territory that you live on?
Are there any tribal lands in Illinois?
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Why Land Acknowledgements Are Important (But who are they really for?)
Land acknowledgements are 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, in this case, lessons. It can be an explicit yet limited way to recognize the history of colonialism and first nations as well as a need for change in settler-colonial societies. In this context, we’re looking to acknowledge the existence of Indigenous bodies in geography and how they occupy land.
How do we acknowledge territory?
Often, territory acknowledgements are concise, along the lines of:
“I want to acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of (nation names).”
Some people may also mention the name of a local treaty.
Some may learn the language and speak a few words in it. If you are not sure how to pronounce a nation’s name, there are a number of ways to learn.
While a brief acknowledgement may work for some groups, others wish to add more intention and detail to acknowledgements. To thoughtfully prepare an in-depth acknowledgement requires time and care. You may find it helpful to reflect on and research questions such as:
Why is this acknowledgement happening?
How does this acknowledgement relate to the event or work you are doing?
What is the history of this territory?
What are the impacts of colonialism here?
What is your relationship to this territory?
How did you come to be here?
What intentions do you have to disrupt and dismantle colonialism beyond this territory acknowledgement?
Introduction
Respectfully asking someone from that nation or from a local organization such as a Friendship Center or Indigenous Student Center Check the nation’s website: they may have a phonetic pronunciation on their “About” page, an audio-recording of their name, or videos that include people saying the nation’s name Call the nation after hours and listen to their answering machine recording.
Lesson Adapted from The Land you Live On an Education Guide by Native Land created by Native Peoples.
Native Land Digital is a source for finding out who historically lived on your land.
The Decolonial Atlas "The Decolonial Atlas is a growing collection of maps which, in some way, help us to challenge our relationships with the land, people, and state. It’s based on the premise that cartography is not as objective as we’re made to believe." About
Trickster Cultural Center is a local Native American Cultural Center found in Schaumburg, IL
It is important to create connections and collaborations with Indigenous peoples if the Land Acknowledgement is to be effective.
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Lesson:
In teams you will use the above resources to create a Land Acknowledgement.
Land Acknowledgements are not done by Native Americans but the people inhabiting the land that was ceded.
We will decide as a class which one to present to the school administration for use in meetings and assemblies.
We then will decide the best way to present what we created.
The Land Acknowledgement you decide on will be added to this site.
Now how can we do better?
Watch the video below and write down some ideas of things you can do.