We All Go Back To The Land: The Who, Why, And How Of Land Acknowledgements

Getting the Land Acknowledgement Right

Land Acknowledgements often begin academic conferences, cultural events, government press gatherings, and even hockey games. They are supposed to be an act of Reconciliation between Indigenous peoples in Canada and non-Indigenous Canadians, but they have become so routine and formulaic that they have sometimes lost meaning. Seen more and more as empty words, some events have dropped Land Acknowledgements altogether.

Métis artist and educator Suzanne Keeptwo wants to change that. She sees the Land Acknowledgement as an opportunity for Indigenous peoples in Canada to communicate a message to non-Indigenous Canadians—a message founded upon Age Old Wisdom about how to sustain the Land we all want to call home.

For Keeptwo, the Land Acknowledgement is a way to teach and a way to learn: a living, evolving record of First Nation, Métis, and Inuit peoples in Canada and the Land that for millennia was respectfully held in pristine condition. As Keeptwo says: “Everything comes back to the Land—as our common denominator and most perfect unifier for Reconciliation.” This is an indispensable guide to getting the contemporary Land Acknowledgement right.