Research Guides: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Land Acknowledgments

Penn College Land Acknowledgment

Penn College Land Acknowledgment
We acknowledge that the land on which we live, work, and learn is the ancestral home of the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee , Iroquoian-speaking Susquehannocks , and the Lenni Lenape (Delaware). We too recognize their Woodland Period ancestors. We are grateful for their stewardship and management of this land over thousands of years and promote this recognition in honor and respect of that caretaking.

Honor Native Land

Performance or Progress? The physical and rhetorical removal of indigenous peoples in settler land acknowledgments at land-grab universities Land acknowledgments are an evolving practice to recognize local Indigenous Peoples as traditional stewards of their homelands. Using a content and discourse analysis, we conduct the first empirical study of U.S. land acknowledgment statements focusing on the 47 land-grab universities created under the 1862 Morrill Act. We find that LGUs tend to adopt statements in urban areas, where federally recognized tribes are present, and at institutions with over 100 enrolled Native American students. Land acknowledgment statements also commonly name local Indigenous Peoples yet often fail to articulate their responsibilities to them, include superficial gestures, and center multicultural language. We offer “rhetorical removal” to describe the tendency of land-grab universities to deploy language that selectively erases Indigenous Peoples and, thus, argue that statements must directly address settler colonial legacies of violence and redistribute material support for Indigenous students and partnerships with Native nations.

A guide to indigenous land acknowledgment Native Governance Center co-hosted an Indigenous land acknowledgment event with the Lower Phalen Creek Project on Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2019 (October 14). The event featured the following talented panelists: Dr. Kate Beane (Flandreau Santee Dakota and Muskogee Creek), Mary Lyons (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe), Rose Whipple (Isanti Dakota and Ho-Chunk), Rhiana Yazzie (Diné), and Cantemaza (Neil) McKay (Spirit Lake Dakota). We’ve created this handy guide to Indigenous land acknowledgment based on our panelists’ responses.
So you began your event with an Indigenous land acknowledgment. Now what? Indigenous leaders and activists have mixed feelings about land acknowledgments. While some say they are a waste of time, others are working to make the well-meaning but often empty speeches more useful.
Territory Acknowledgment 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. However, these acknowledgments can easily be a token gesture rather than a meaningful practice.
Honoring original Indigenous inhabitants: Land Acknowledgment Land acknowledgment is a traditional custom that dates back centuries in many Native nations and communities. Today, land acknowledgments are used by Native Peoples and non-Natives to recognize Indigenous Peoples who are the original stewards of the lands on which we now live. Before public events and other important gatherings hosted by the National Museum of the American Indian, a speaker offers this acknowledgment displayed in the quote container on behalf of everyone present.

Native Land Interactive App

Native Land Digital
Native Land is an interactive app to help map and learn more about Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages.

Disclaimer

In the interest of full disclosure, the creator of and collaborators for this guide identify with some, but not all of the oppressed identities presented here. As members of the Penn College community, we strive to encourage diversity, inclusion, awareness, equality, and equity. While I have made an attempt to collect and present some of the more timely, relevant, and quality resources on the topics of oppression, I recognize that my collaborators and I are still susceptible to our own implicit biases, privilege, and perspectives. Given our own limited experiences, any thoughts, comments, or suggestions, particularly from members of any marginalized populations, are sincerely welcomed and greatly appreciated.