land acknowledgement

{{Short description|Formal statement spoken at the beginning of a public event}}

File:Sign acknowledging Aboriginal Custodians of the land.JPG, acknowledging that the Wurundjeri people originally inhabited the land, and containing the Australian Aboriginal flag]]

File:Kumeyaay Land Acknowledgement Bench.jpg land acknowledgement art at San Diego State University]]

A land acknowledgement (or territorial acknowledgement) is a formal statement that acknowledges the indigenous peoples of the land. It may be in written form, or be spoken at the beginning of public events. The custom of land acknowledgement is present in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and more recently in the United States.

History

The modern practice of land acknowledgements began in Australia in the late 1970s, taking the form of the Welcome to Country ceremony, and was at first primarily associated with Indigenous Australian political movements and the arts. This ceremony, and the closely related Acknowledgement of Country, became more popular during the 1990s, having been promoted by the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and taken up in the aftermath of the Mabo decision recognizing Aboriginal title. By the early 2000s, land acknowledgements had become commonplace in Australia. They became common in Canada subsequent to the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission final report in 2015. In the United States, they were increasing in prevalence in the early 2020s.

By country

=Australia=

In Australia, the Acknowledgement of Country is related to but distinct from the Welcome to Country. A Welcome to Country is performed by a traditional owner/custodian of the land that one is currently on, while an Acknowledgement of Country may be performed by anyone. These customs are a rejection of the colonial idea of terra nullius, which was overturned by the Mabo decision in 1992.{{cite web | last=Watson | first=Joey | title=How the Acknowledgment of Country became a core national custom - and why it matters | website=ABC News|publisher= Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date=18 March 2020 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-18/history-indigenous-acknowledgment-of-country-national-custom/12029886 | access-date=10 December 2021}}{{cite web | title=Welcome to Country | website=Aboriginal Victoria|publisher=Victoria Government | date=27 October 2019 | url=http://www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au/welcome-country | access-date=1 August 2020}} 50px Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)] licence. The Welcome to Country is a ritual performed that is intended to highlight the cultural significance of the surrounding area to a particular Aboriginal Australian or Torres Strait Islander clan or language group.{{cite web | last=Bolger | first=Rosemary | title=How Welcome to Country rituals are changing to make all Australians take note | website=SBS News | date=12 November 2020 | url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/how-welcome-to-country-rituals-are-changing-to-make-all-australians-take-note | access-date=10 December 2021}}

=Canada=

In Canada, land acknowledgments became more popular after the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission report (which argued that the country's Indian residential school system had amounted to cultural genocide) and the election of a Liberal majority led by Justin Trudeau that same year.{{Cite news|last=Coletta|first=Amanda|title=Canada pays tribute to indigenous people before hockey games, school days. Some complain it rings hollow.|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/canadas-land-acknowledgments-draw-criticism--from-the-indigenous-peoples-theyre-supposed-to-honor/2019/07/25/8479ab14-accd-11e9-9411-a608f9d0c2d3_story.html|access-date=2020-10-04|issn=0190-8286}} By 2019, they were a regular practice at events including National Hockey League games, ballet performances, and parliament meetings.

In May 2025, at the beginning of his Speech from the Throne during the opening of the Parliament of Canada, King Charles III read a land acknowledgement in recognition of the land being unceded territory of the Algonquin and Anishinaabeg people.{{cite web |title=The historic land acknowledgment in the King's speech |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS8U1q3rzOw |website=YouTube |publisher=CBC News}}{{npsn|date=May 2025}}

= New Zealand =

In New Zealand, land acknowledgments recognize the indigenous Māori and Moriori peoples. Māori words are commonly used in greetings of public speakers, acknowledgments of publications, and legislation to recognize their presence.{{Cite journal |last=Magallanes |first=Catherine Iorns |date=2011-08-01 |title=The Use of Tangata Whenua and Mana Whenua in New Zealand Legislation: Attempts at Cultural Recognition |url=https://ojs.victoria.ac.nz/vuwlr/article/view/5134 |journal=Victoria University of Wellington Law Review |language=en |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=259–276 |doi=10.26686/vuwlr.v42i2.5134 |issn=1179-3082|doi-access=free }}{{Cite web |date=June 2022 |title=Acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia and Māori of Aotearoa New Zealand |url=https://www.anzca.edu.au/resources/indigenous-health-(1)/anzca_acknowledgement-guide_2019_p4.aspx |access-date=4 December 2023 |website=Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists}} Usage of Māori place names before English place names similarly acknowledges Māori relations with the place.{{Cite web |date=Feb 2022 |title=Practicing Ethically with Respect to the Rights and Interests of Indigenous Peoples |url=https://www.eianz.org/document/item/6388#:~:text=%E2%80%9CI%20(we)%20acknowledge%20the,present%2C%20and%20future%20leaders.%E2%80%9D |access-date=4 December 2023 |website=Environmental Institute of Australia and New Zealand}} In 2022, Te Pati Māori delivered a petition with 70,000 signatures to the New Zealand Parliament which called to change the country's official name to its Māori name, Aotearoa.{{Cite news |last=Frost |first=Natasha |date=19 August 2022 |title=Could New Zealand Change Its Name |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/19/world/australia/new-zealand-name-change.html |access-date=4 December 2023}}

=United States=

File:UNCA Cherokee land acknowledgement.jpg acknowledging the Cherokee people as the indigenous people of the land, with Cherokee script]]

In the United States, the practice of land acknowledgments was gaining momentum as of 2019.{{Cite journal|url=http://rgdoi.net/10.13140/RG.2.2.33681.07521|title=Land Acknowledgement: A Trend in Higher Education and Nonprofit Organizations|first=Thomas E|last=Keefe|date=May 25, 2019|doi=10.13140/RG.2.2.33681.07521}} Early adopters included arts institutions, museums, institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations, local governments, and churches. After the 2020 Oscar land acknowledgment statement by Taika Waititi,{{Cite web|first=Eric|last= Zorn|date= 2020-02-11|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/eric-zorn/ct-column-land-acknowledgement-oscars-zorn-20200211-7p56eru7bvb2lmrh4fojjc6wmq-story.html|title=Column: Taika Waititi sings a new song at the Oscars: This land was their land|website=Chicago Tribune}}{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/changing-america/enrichment/arts-culture/482357-the-oscars-acknowledged-the-indigenous-land/|title=The Oscars acknowledged the indigenous land Hollywood sits on|first=Anagha|last=Srikanth|date=February 10, 2020}} the practice has received more attention, both positive{{Cite web|url=https://www.insightintodiversity.com/acknowledging-native-land-is-a-step-against-indigenous-erasure/|title=Acknowledging Native Land is a Step Against Indigenous Erasure|first=Mariah|last=Stewart|date=December 19, 2019}} and negative.{{Cite magazine|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/156520/dissonance-land-acknowledgment-oscars|title=The Dissonance of a Land Acknowledgment at the Oscars|first=Nick|last=Martin|date=February 10, 2020|magazine=The New Republic}} Native Governance Center has resources on the topic of land acknowledgment,{{Cite web |last= |date=2019-10-22 |title=A Guide to Indigenous Land Acknowledgment |url=https://nativegov.org/news/a-guide-to-indigenous-land-acknowledgment/ |access-date=2023-11-22 |website=Native Governance Center |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last= |date=2021-09-21 |title=Beyond Land Acknowledgment: A Guide |url=https://nativegov.org/news/beyond-land-acknowledgment-guide/ |access-date=2023-11-22 |website=Native Governance Center |language=en-US}} as do a number of sites geared toward colleges and universities.{{Cite web|url=https://www.everylearnereverywhere.org/blog/an-introduction-to-indigenous-land-acknowledgements-for-college-and-university-leaders/|title=An Introduction to Indigenous Land Acknowledgements for College and University Leaders|first= Corrie|last=Pelc|date=December 13, 2021|website=Every Learner Everywhere}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ashe.ws/landacknowledgements|title=Association for the Study of Higher Education|website=www.ashe.ws}}

Reception

Land acknowledgements have been criticized by both conservatives, who have described them as excesses of political correctness, and by those on the political left, who have expressed concerns that land acknowledgements amount to empty gestures that avoid addressing the issues of indigenous communities in context. Ensuring the factual accuracy of acknowledgments can be difficult due to problems like conflicting land claims or unrecorded land exchanges between indigenous nations. Some indigenous leaders and activists say land acknowledgements are a waste of time, while others suggest ways they can be a first step toward action favoring indigenous rights.

Graeme Wood has argued that a land acknowledgement delivered in any context besides the actual return of land is nothing more than a "highwayman's receipt", "moral exhibitionism", and "a counterfeit version of respect", and that such statements should be limited to occasions "that preserve their dignity and power".{{cite news |last1=Wood |first1=Graeme |title='Land Acknowledgments' Are Just Moral Exhibitionism |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/against-land-acknowledgements-native-american/620820/ |access-date=September 10, 2023 |work=The Atlantic |date=November 28, 2021}} Kevin Gover has stated such statements can be inadvertently disempowering towards the very peoples to whom they are supposedly offered as a gesture of respect, by publicly highlighting the involuntary absence of those peoples from their traditional lands.{{cite news |last1=Veltman |first1=Chloe |title=So you began your event with an Indigenous land acknowledgment. Now what? |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/03/15/1160204144/indigenous-land-acknowledgments |access-date=September 10, 2023 |work=NPR |date=March 15, 2023}} Cutcha Risling Baldy has drawn an analogy between a land acknowledgement and a thief who steals a laptop, refuses to give it back to the true owner, and then attaches a plaque to publicly admit his crime, so that every time he uses the laptop in public, everyone will know that it used to be the victim's computer—which is cold comfort to the victim. Baldy argues it is better for land to be returned, or at least to describe specific, concrete actions the audience can take to assist indigenous peoples.{{cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Robert |last2=Ahtone |first2=Tristan |title=Land-Grab Universities |journal=High Country News |date=March 30, 2020 |url=https://www.hcn.org/issues/52.4/indigenous-affairs-education-land-grab-universities |access-date=April 20, 2020 |archive-date=April 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200419170100/https://www.hcn.org/issues/52.4/indigenous-affairs-education-land-grab-universities |url-status=live }}