As an educator, I'm familiar with the growing use of land acknowledgements by institutions of higher education. It seemed like one year people realized that all of the land we "own" was unceded land that actually cannot be owned nor should be possessed by our colonized nation. Institutions of Higher Education are supposed to be the leaders in thought, and it was at a national conference that I first saw the inclusion of a land acknowledgement at an opening ceremony.
Of all the land acknowledgements I've seen since then, this one struck me as one of the most genuine, because it included actual tribal leaders, an exchanging of gifts, a blessing, and a showcase of tribal customs. I don't believe there was a true appreciation of this from the audience - it was "too new" for its time - but I think the leadership of that conference did it right. Since then, land acknowledgement seem to have become less sincere, almost never include tribal representation, and sometimes can veer into erasure of the devastating effects of colonization.
I think about land acknowledgements every few weeks, especially since land acknowledgements are a part of my circle development and creation. What brought me to this topic today was the really bad presentation of my University’s [bad] land acknowledge at a recent seminar I attended. The audience was asked to look at the screen, where the land acknowledgement was written, and “reflect in whatever way we felt was appropriate.” I had no idea what that meant. After approximately 1 minute of silence, the speaker said something about the number of people who sacrificed so that we could have this land and be together that day.
What? I don’t believe the Narragansett & Wampanoag elders sacrificed so I could eat my kosher meal in a multipurpose room for no reason. In fact, I don’t think the elders wanted to be a part of a genocide at all. I think if the speaker had stopped and taken 30 more seconds to remember what the purpose of the land acknowledgement was actually supposed to be, they wouldn’t have said what they did. But, like many things, these acknowledgements are becoming just another checkbox on a meeting agenda.