'We encourage people to do the research': A look at developing land acknowledgments
When Lance Cardinal was approached by the Edmonton Oilers to act as an Indigenous consultant, the Cree artist and designer knew the first thing he wanted to do was create a land acknowledgment.
Cardinal worked with the National Hockey League team and Chief Wilton Littlechild, a former commissioner for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to come up with a video briefly describing the history of the land that the club's downtown arena sits on.
In a pre-recorded video, Littlechild delivered the team's first land acknowledgment at its home opening game Oct. 13.
“As chief, I welcome you here to Treaty 6 territory. This land has been the traditional region for homelands of the Metis people of Alberta, the Inuit and ancestral territory of the Cree, Dene, Blackfoot, Saulteaux and Nakota Sioux people since time immemorial. The recognition of our history on this land is an act of reconciliation and we honour those who walk with us,” says Littlechild.
The video ends with Littlechild saying “kinanaskomitin,” or “thank you,” in Cree.
“It was important to me for that acknowledgment to make sure it was spoken from our perspective - from a First Nations, first person, Indigenous perspective,” Cardinal, who is from Bigstone Cree Nation in Treaty 8 territory in Alberta, said in a phone interview.
“Also talking about the different nations that lived, travelled and settled here ... those were important to have included as well.”
The multimedia land acknowledgment is to be used before every home game and is to eventually include Cree syllabics.
Discourse on the purpose and practice of land acknowledgments has recently come to the forefront in social, political and educational settings across Canada.
The Manitoba government last month announced a consultation committee was being formed to help develop an acknowledgment to be used in the legislature.
Loretta Ross sees that as a positive move as long as it's done with sincerity and involves Indigenous people.
Ross has been Manitoba's treaty commissioner since 2017. Her office hasn't been asked to assist, but she said it gets two to three requests each week from groups asking for help developing land acknowledgments.
“We encourage people to do the research required to develop their own, and I think it's worked. People have taken the time to learn more about what they want to say,” she said.
Ross said using acknowledgments may give some people a sense that they are doing something tangible in moving toward reconciliation. But those efforts cannot begin and end with land recognition, she said.
While some governments are embracing the practice, at least one has reconsidered it.
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs is facing growing criticism about a recent government policy that its employees stop making territorial or title acknowledgments. It says employees can make reference to ancestral territory, but not use terms like “unceded” and “unsurrendered.”
The province's attorney general has cited a land-title claim, filed by Wolastoqey chiefs last year, as the reason for the policy. The chiefs have criticized the directive.
Leaked emails show that opposition is also coming from within cabinet. Two ministers wrote to the premier Oct. 15 complaining that the policy is causing unnecessary conflict and “creates the impression of a government intentionally reinforcing racist behaviour.”
Christina Gray is an associate with JFK Law Corp. based in Prince Rupert, B.C. She is a Ts'msyen citizen from Lax Kw'alaams in B.C. and a Dene from Treaty 8 territory in the Northwest Territories.
She isn't involved in the New Brunswick case, but said the policy appears “very defensive.”
“I don't know how many public servants there are, but it's a very interesting approach in a very small province.”
She believes there is a place for land acknowledgments if they move beyond symbolic gestures. One way to do that is to include Indigenous languages like Cardinal did with the Oilers, she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2021.
- With files from Kevin Bissett in Fredericton
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.