"Queen’s University is situated on Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Territory.”
You may have heard this spoken, but do you know what it means? Land or territorial acknowledgments have become increasingly common in Canada, but can be challenging to do authentically. The Office of Indigenous Initiatives has a good resource and also offers workshops. To learn more about the history of the land known as Canada and the land known as Kingston, a few starting places include:
- Stones Kingston social history project
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada final report. 2015. Honoring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future.
- Queen’s University Truth and Reconciliation Commission Task Force final report. 2017. Yakwanastahentéha / Aankenjigemi / Extending the Rafters.
- Thomas King, The Inconvenient Indian. 2012. Toronto: Doubleday Canada.
Video: Land Acknowledgments
The information in this video is my current (May 16th 2023) interpretation of peer reviewed scholarly articles, my lived experience, and various conversations I have observed and participated in over the years. The context of these conversations includes around kitchen table discussions, sharing circles and ceremonies, administrative committee meetings, activist gatherings, and academic discussions. Contributors to these conversations include elders, youth, and otherwise knowledgeable members from Indigenous communities from across Canada and the world. Contributors also include non-Indigenous individuals ranging from ally and non-ally settlers to international friends who, although familiar with oppression forms in their homelands, are only just learning of Canada’s colonial context. The personal interpretations presented have been reviewed and guided by mentor Lindsay Brant, a Mohawk woman from Kenhtè:ke, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Ontario, an Educational Developer with the Center for Teaching and Learning and an Adjunct Professor with the Smith School of Business. This video represents my current (May 16th 2023) interpretation of the above-mentioned information gathered over the years and this interpretation will evolve over time as I, and society, move forward in reconciliation.”
Video: Meaningful Land Acknowledgements
Video by Lindsay Brant, Centre for Teaching and Learning
Two useful critiques of land/territorial acknowledgements are:
âpihtawikosisân, “Beyond territorial acknowledgments”.
Hayden King on writing Ryerson’s land acknowledgment