What are Land Acknowledgements?

They've become quite the thing recently, and seem to be common on Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Day.

- A GUIDE TO INDIGENOUS LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT.

“It is important to understand the longstanding history that has brought you to reside on the land, and to seek to understand your place within that history. Land acknowledgements do not exist in a past tense, or historical context: colonialism is a current ongoing process, and we need to build our mindfulness of our present participation.”

- 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.

- The rise of land acknowledgments — and their limitations.

The October 2021 Boston Marathon opened with a land acknowledgement ceremony, prompted by criticisms of marathon organizers who had scheduled the race on Indigenous Peoples Day; its extensiveness drew praise from several Indigenous people in attendance. Similarly, many universities have long and thoughtful land acknowledgement pages on their websites, like this one from Northwestern University. And land acknowledgements are turning up in other spaces too, as seen in a ceremony held with the Ho-Chunk Nation by the Madison, Wisconsin, school district in April.

- ‘Land Acknowledgments’ Are Just Moral Exhibitionism.

The practice of “land acknowledgment”—preceding a fancy event by naming the Indigenous groups whose slaughter and dispossession cleared the land on which the audience’s canapés are about to be served—is one of the greatest associate-producer credits of all time. A land acknowledgment is what you give when you have no intention of giving land. It is like a receipt provided by a highway robber, noting all the jewels and gold coins he has stolen. Maybe it will be useful for an insurance claim? Anyway, you are not getting your jewels back, but now you have documentation.