We are treaty people

Some thoughts on land acknowledgements

Along with being Pride month, in Canada June is Indigenous People’s Month. June 21, the day commonly known as the date of the summer solstice, is National Indigenous People’s Day. One of the things we do to respect Indigenous people and relationships on the land is a land acknowledgement. As a white person and a descendent of settlers, I use these in different ways. I have one on my email and my website. The church I attend in person leads with one every Sunday. 

Here is an extended version of my own land acknowledgement. I wrote this and share it occasionally as an act of reconciliation, to position myself intentionally in relationship recognising my privilege and unlearning a lot of what I have been taught my whole life. This might be a model for you, if your ancestors settled on land already populated by Indigenous people, to think about your own land acknowledgement. A great place to start is www.native-land.ca where you can look up any location on Turtle Island (North America) and see a list of the nations, tribes, and treaties that exist.

I live, work, and play in Kjiputuk (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), the Great Harbour, named by the original people of Nova Scotia, the L’nu, called Mi’kmaq. Relationships between L’nu and the English crown for her settlers were established in the Peace and Friendship Treaties signed between 1726 and 1760. These treaties did not deal in any exchange of land, but in the sharing of resources. And this is still true today. 

Land acknowledgments are not just for organisations and governments to announce on special days. They are a tool that each of us can use to remember our place in treaties and to grow and reconcile relationships with Indigenous people. They are an opportunity to learn and consider the relationships we have and also the histories we have inherited from our families. I’ll use my own family as an example.

Both sets of parents come from settlers to Prince Edward Island from Scotland, fleeing the northern clearances as the British forced farmers into villages where they lived in poverty and starvation. My maternal ancestors settled and took up farming and fishing. My paternal ancestors were part of the resistance against British land owners charging rent and taking all the produce from the land they farmed. 

I know nothing about my ancestors’ relationships with the Mi’kmaq who lived in these areas. 

I do want to know more about my ancestors’ interactions with the Mi’kmaq on PEI. I tell this story to remember that here in Mi’kmaqi, settlers, Cameroons, Black loyalists, and Mi’kmaq have alliances and relationships that go back hundreds of years. And now as we face the truths of colonialism, land theft, child removals, and residential schools, reconciliation opens a possibility that new relationships may emerge again. 

A land acknowledgment should not only include the history of the land, but what we are doing to build relationships and lift up the work and lives of our Indigenous neighbours. It starts with learning, and that learning could take a long time. And that’s ok. It can be one small commitment at a time. I’m going to read a book by an Indigenous author. I’ll attend a local Indigenous craft fair. These small steps ultimately help us pay attention to Indigenous speakers when they speak about how our actions affect them and their own relationship with the land. It’s up to you. You can share your commitment with your family, or a friend, or keep it between you and God. 

The First Nations Version of the New Testament describes Paul as The Small Man. He wrote to the Sacred Family in the Village of Horse (the Phillippians) to do what you can “as long as it is good and honourable.” Then, as the letter continues, the peace and harmony of the Great Spirit, which goes far beyond our small and weak ways of thinking, will watch over your hearts and minds through the Chosen One, Creator Sets Free (Jesus).