M ore conferences and events across the country are opening with a formal land acknowledgement recognizing Indigenous Peoples and the traditional or treaty lands where the gatherings are held. If you’re looking to introduce this protocol to your meetings, it’s important to ensure the phrasing and intent is authentic, accurate and respectful. Once you’ve selected a meeting venue, reach out to the local Indigenous community and ask if, and then how, they would like to be included, advises Bob Joseph, a member of the Gwawaenuk Nation, a certifi ed Master Trainer and the founder of Port Coquitlam-based Indigenous Corporate Training Inc. The Friendship Centre nearest to the meeting venue may offer guidance or direct you to the appropriate First Nation, Joseph adds. Avoid cutting and pasting wording from the Internet or recycling previously used phrasing since acknowledgements are updated periodically and some communities are transitioning away from English to traditional community names. “In Vancouver, the First Nations have worked it out amongst themselves that there’s an order to the way the communities are presented” in the acknowledgement statement, Joseph says. It’s also important for event attendees to understand why an acknowledgement is being done, “and that it’s not just rhetoric,” advises An authentic approach Adding Indigenous Land Acknowledgement to your events? Here’s how to do it right by Angela Kryhul Tuesday Johnson-MacDonald, a member of the Wolf Clan, Mohawk Nation, Six Nations of the Grand River near Brantford, Ont. A verbal land acknowledgement is appropriate for small gatherings of up to 30 people, however a large conference is an excellent opportunity to invite the participation of elders, chiefs and other respected leaders. It’s also an opportunity to add action to your land acknowledgement by seeking professional services from Indigenous peoples who are graphic designers, meeting planners, authors, keynote speakers, printers, caterers and entertainers, Johnson-MacDonald adds. Planners can make acknowledgements visually engaging by including appropriate photos or a video. “I have delivered land acknowledgements in various forms: spoken word, a short theatrical presentation and song,” Johnson-Macdonald says. A few years ago, her event and site selection fi rm, TAP Resources, produced a welcome video for a national Indigenous conference featuring young singers from Indigenous communities throughout Ontario and showcasing First Nations linguistic and cultural diversity. The protocol “is no small gesture,” Joseph adds. “I think it’s really helping to change perceptions, attitudes and ideas. To acknowledge traditional territory and the people is to make them visible.” Watch the welcome video produced by TAP Resources. Scan the QR code or visit ignitemag.ca “It’s something that many of us are grappling with,” says Tuesday Johnson-MacDonald, who recently delivered a Canada-wide, ten-city hybrid meeting, with the main hub in Ottawa. Organizers decided upon this wording: “I would like to begin by respectfully acknowledging we are gathered on numerous Indigenous traditional territories across Turtle Island for the delivery of this hybrid meeting. I ask you to take a moment to acknowledge the traditional territory you are currently meeting on. We also acknowledge that (name of organization)’s main offi ce and main hub to virtually deliver (name of event) is located in Ottawa, on the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation.” Another example is the wording used by the Public Sector Accounting Board: “The Board has a commitment to diversity and inclusion. In keeping with Indigenous Protocol and building respectful relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada, it is customary to acknowledge the traditional territories or ancestral lands of Indigenous peoples. We are meeting virtually, so I would like to acknowledge that the Indigenous peoples are the traditional stewards of the lands and waters where each of us attends the meeting this afternoon.” How does one word a land acknowledgement if meeting attendees are dialing in from several dif erent locations? November 2020 | Ignitemag.ca | 21
