“I would like to begin by acknowledging that the land on which we gather is Treaty 6 territory, the traditional territory of Cree Peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.” A memorized script, an empty acknowledgement that I’ve heard recited countless of times. Chelsea Vowel asks “what is the purpose of these land acknowledgements?” and “what can we learn about the way these acknowledgments are delivered” Personally, land acknowledgements are the first things that come to my mind when I hear the term Treaty. As mentioned in my previous blog posts, I used to only associate Treaties with land acknowledgements, as these were the only ways I ever “learned” about Treaties. I put learned in quotations because I never truly learned anything about them other than what Treaty land I was on at the moment of the acknowledgement. With that, I believe that the purpose of these generic land acknowledgements are to make people aware of what land they are on. However, when we use these scripts, there is so much information that lacks. Sure we know what Treaty land we are on and whose territory it was prior to colonization, but what more is there to it? This leads to Vowel’s final question regarding land acknowledgements, “what can exist beyond territorial acknowledgments?” This question spurs several questions that and remain unanswered – What does it mean to be on this Treaty land? What are ways that I can respect the land I am on? Is there more I should be aware of?
Something I appreciated that this seminar group did was encourage us and gave us time to create land acknowledements of our own. Through this process, I found it difficult to start, as I found myself following the typical scripts I was familiar with. With that, I tried to find ways to make it more personalized. This impacted my miskâsowin process as I found myself questioning and answering who am I as a Treaty person living on this land? And incorporating these answers into my land acknowledgment:
“I acknowledge that I am a settler on Treaty 6 territory, the land that is the original home of the Metis, Cree, and Dakota. I acknowledge that I have a long ways to go on my journey of miskâsowin as a treaty partner. Through tâpwêwin – the process of truth telling, I am beginning to learn the truth behind the land I have the privilege on living on and with that, I would like to acknowledge the hardships that the Indigenous peoples have gone through for myself to have the privileges, education, and place to call home.”
I believe that overtime, I can add to this land acknowldement and change it throughout my miskâsowin journey. I now understand the importance of personalizing land acknowledgements to ensure that it does not come out as a generic script that lacks authenticity. I understand that land acknowledgements should have personal meaning and genuineness and should not be something that is done just to “check it off the list”.