Tag Archives: Treaty land

M4: Entry 2 -‘I regret it’: Hayden King on writing Ryerson University’s territorial acknowledgement

Hayden King is a professor of Indigenous politics and policy at Ryerson University. In an interview on the program CBC program, Unreserved, he discusses the territorial acknowledgement that he wrote for the University in 2013.  As these acknowledgements become more commonplace he addresses how they have become superficial and ineffective, doing a disservice to the treaties.  He would like to see the acknowledgements updated to include a statement of action at the end.   “This is the land that we’re on and this is what we’re going to do to breathe life into our obligations to those communities and those treaties.” (King, 2019)

 

 

CBC Radio. (2019, January 18). ‘I regret it’: Hayden King on writing Ryerson University’s territorial acknowledgement. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/redrawing-the-lines-1.4973363/i-regret-it-hayden-king-on-writing-ryerson-university-s-territorial-acknowledgement-1.4973371

Beyond a Formal Acknowledgement

Module 2 Post 5

The article discusses the City of Vancouver’s formally acknowledging that it was located on the “unceded territory of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish Indigenous peoples”  and how it does not improve the life’s of the Indigenous people of the area but is it just a “settler move to innocence”.

 

Hamilton, H.G. (2015, January 7).  Beyond a Formal Acknowledgement. The Mainlander. https://themainlander.com/2015/01/07/beyond-a-formal-acknowledgement/

Image from the First Peoples Guide for Newcomers

We All Go Back to the Land

MODULE 1: ENTRY 3

I am looking forward to exploring this newly released book this semester as I work on my research project.   It provides the history and cultural practice of land acknowledgements and explores the do’s and don’ts as you create your own.

 

Reference:

Suzanne Keeptwo. (2021). We All Go Back to the Land : The Who, Why, and How of Land Acknowledgements. Brush Education.

It is available to read online through the UBC Library.

Why do a Land Acknowledgements?

MODULE 1: ENTRY 2

Rethinking the practice and Performance of Indigenous Land Acknowledgements summarizes several different presentations that were given for the Canadian Association for Theatre Research.  The first speaker, Dylan Robinson,  states we complete land acknowledgements to “affirm, declare, assert—Indigenous territories and lands that we are guests upon (and often as uninvited guests) is to begin to name specific histories of colonization and continued non-Indigenous occupation of Indigenous lands. ” (2019).  He goes on to outline the importance of the language that we use during a territorial acknowledgements including how we name our position to land and acknowledge the hosts of the land we are on.  

Phrasing and word choice, as well as intentions, behind the land acknowledgment should be well thought out and carefully chosen. “To move beyond the mere spectacle of acknowledgement as a public performance of contrition, we must take into account acknowledgement’s site and context specificity. ”  Robinson et al. (2019).  The quote reminds me of sketch by Baroness VonSketch where a land acknowledgement is read in a theatre before a performance and the intention behind the statement is questioned. It is worth a watch if you haven’t seen before. 

 

 

Reference

CBC Comedy. (2019, October 14). Land Acknowledgement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7re1r0FY-4Y. Youtube.  https://youtu.be/xlG17C19nYo

Robinson, D., Hill, K.J.C., Ruffo, A.G., Couture, S., & Ravensbergen, L.C. (2019). Rethinking the Practice and Performance of Indigenous Land Acknowledgement. Canadian Theatre Review 177, 20-30. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/716610.