Articles, guides and opinions

A land acknowledgment is not a means to an end. Rather, it is a first step in recognizing how settler colonialism has affected the indigenous people of this country. The pieces below represent a variety of thoughts and opinions on land acknowledgement.

Land acknowledgements are a good first step, but there’s a lot more work to be done
By indigenous writer Serena Mills
Why land acknowledgments matter
By Chip Colwell, editor-in-chief of SAPIENS
The guide to Indigenous land and territorial acknowledgements for cultural institutions
Developed by: Felicia Garcia (Chumash), M.A. Museum Studies, New York University, 2018 with Jane Anderson, Museum Studies, New York University.
'I regret it': Hayden King on writing Ryerson University's territorial acknowledgement
by Hayden King, an Anishinaabe writer and educator who works at Ryerson University
Are you planning to do a land acknowledgement?
American Indians in Children's Literature March 2019 blog post
"Land-grab universities: Expropriated Indigenous land is the foundation of the land-grant university system"
by Robert Lee and Tristan Ahtone
‘Land acknowledgments’ are just moral exhibitionism
by Graeme Wood in The Atlantic.

Toolkit

OSU Land Acknowledgement Toolkit

"Beyond Awareness: Deepening Understandings of Land Acknowledgement Practices" Created by Luhui Whitebear, PhD, Kobe Natachu, Roman Cohen, Alicia Duncan & Charlene Martinez, Oregon State University

Deepening understandings of land acknowledgement practices

Referencing Indigenous elders and knowledge keepers

Citation formats do not have a way to formally acknowledgment Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers in reference citations. In response, NorQuest College Library has created a citation style "in the spirit of wahkôhtowin and reconciliation" to do this:

Unlike most other personal communications, Elders and Knowledge Keepers should be cited in-text and in the reference list.
The citation format for the reference list follows the following format:
- Last name, First name., Nation/Community. Treaty Territory if applicable. City/Community they live in if applicable. Topic/subject of communication if applicable. Date Month Year.
- Cardinal, Delores., Goodfish Lake Cree Nation. Treaty 6. Lives in Edmonton. Oral teaching. 4 April 2004.

Note: If you would like to approach an Elder or Knowledge Keeper for teachings, remember to follow protocol or if you are unsure what their protocol is, please ask them ahead of time.

Land acknowledgments - a resource guide: Articles, guides and opinions