Reflection 5: Land Acknowledgements

What Are They For?

I am currently located in Cranbrook, British Columbia. When I do a land acknowledgement, I am recognizing that I am on the unceded territory of the Ktunaxa People. Doing a land acknowledgement recognizes the Indigenous People that are Native to the place I live, work and go to school. Land acknowledgments should not only recognize but also celebrate the Indigenous People’s of Canada while still recognizing Canadians’ responsibility to enact reconciliation in their daily lives.

Tokenism

In some situations, a land acknowledgment becomes a box to check and a memorized script that is repeated in the mornings. However, the First Nations Health Authority discusses how to make land acknowledgments meaningful. And some may ask, “Why?” For teachers, it is our duty to ensure every student feels safe, welcomes, and seen in their classroom. University of Victoria teacher competency number 6 explains that we are responsible for demonstrating respect, specifically to our Indigenous learners. Doing a scripted land acknowledgment once a day in the morning doesn’t show we care; it highlights that a land acknowledgement is something we can brush through.

College of the Rockies serves the communities of the East Kootenays. All of the College’s campuses are located in the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa people which is also home to the Kinbasket people. Five First Nations bands are located in the regional boundary of the College: Four of which are Ktunaxa and one is Shuswap. Additionally, the College partners with the Kootenay Regional Office of the Métis Nation, BC. ​ We are thankful for all our Indigenous partners and continually seek new ways to support the development of our community. – College of the Rockies

Going Beyond

During my practicum, I want to create a land acknowledgment with my class and post it in the room. Where I would start with students creating land acknowledgements in small groups on chart paper, then coming together to create one unified land acknowledgement on poster paper and hang it in our classroom. My second goal is to take the time before lessons to share a land acknowledgment so that my class does more than one acknowledgment in the morning. Most importantly, I will continue reading books (which I shared in my last post) and having conversations to further my education.

We acknowledge and respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples on whose traditional territories the university stands and the Songhees, Esquimalt and the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. We acknowledge that the University of Victoria’s East Kootenay Teacher Education Program resides on the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa Nation. -University of Victoria