Land-Practice and Protocols: 4 Thoughts for Beginning or Enhancing Your Journey Towards Reconciliation
By Stephanie Bartlett, PhD Candidate
Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary
Many of us are familiar with land acknowledgements as a way of addressing the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) calls to action. On or around the time of Canada’s 2nd annual Truth and Reconciliation Day on September 30, you may be wondering how to spend this day. For some, it is a day to reach out to learn from and with Indigenous Elders and knowledge keepers. Others may read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Reports (2015b) or calls to action (2015a) and spend their day in deep reflection and learning. Along with these suggestions, I invite you to think about the importance of land acknowledgments…and go a step beyond to explore the question, what does it mean to develop a connection to the land where you live, work, and play?
To begin, pause and think about the land. Moss on the sidewalk. Trees in a backyard. Waves lapping against the shore.
Did this invoke a connection to nature that is often lost in the busy world in which we live? Acknowledging all beings as relatives with whom we are connected is part of a way of life that has existed for millennia for Indigenous peoples. Arising from this respectful relationship with the land and animals comes a different view of community and stewardship of the earth.
As a PhD Candidate in Educational Research and Anthropology, my research addresses education for reconciliation through land-based learning, Indigenous pedagogies, and creativity. I recognize that I am a non-Indigenous woman with Scottish, English, and German ancestry. I grew up on the unceded land of the Coast Salish peoples and now live on Blackfoot land. I have been on a learning journey with a Blackfoot Elder for several years where I am learning to centre Indigeneity and to transform myself as I walk the path of reconciliation.
On this journey, I live in practice. I am learning that reconciliation happens “one heart, one eye, one ear at a time” (Kelly, personal communication, December 18, 2020). Inspired by Navajo scholar Gregory Cajete’s (1994) vision of Indigenous education, my practice is my inner work, yet my sharing through teaching, writing, and working with others is the outer work that I offer to the world. And so, I offer this practice forward to you, not as a way of telling you how to begin or continue your own journey towards reconciliation. Rather, my own learning may serve as an inspiration to others who may not know exactly how to walk this path.
A land practice is an attunement to the land, the animals, rocks, trees, and plants that are in a particular place. One of my approaches to reconciliation is to adopt a land practice and I offer this as four actions that you can take starting now.
Four Actions To Develop a Thoughtful Land Practice
- Notice deeply. Go beyond the land acknowledgement and develop a relationship with the land. This can be as simple as noticing the characteristics of the land and can develop into understanding of a new way of being.
- Connect with the Indigenous community whose land you are on. Find out first from your local nation how to offer protocols to ask for guidance.
- Build relationships with local Indigenous communities and invite community members to the table at the beginning of a project.
- Listen. Commit to listening and learning so that you can find a way forward together.
Land Practice as an Awareness of the Ongoing Effects of Colonialism
Look Beyond the End Goal
How might we seek help or clarity for the sake of learning a process? The act of seeking help or clarity often comes with an end goal in mind, especially in work that is driven by policy or government approvals. Seeking understanding about land through the lens of reconciliation requires a greater call to think deeply about project benefits, emphasizing the goal of reconciling with the earth.
Barriers of Time
What changes could be made to address barriers of time? Taking the time to build relationships with Indigenous communities requires a slower pace.
Pay Attention to Language
How might we think critically about language and how we use it, both in print and verbally in meetings? And how might we place attention and care to our non-verbal cues and body language when having discussions about reconciliation? Both the words land use and claims indicate property and ownership and have colonial implications. Step into a new way of envisioning how to understand land as a being and how to understand your thinking about land.
Resist the Urge to Problem Solve
What are ways that we could actively resist the urge to jump to conclusions or follow a trajectory to go from A to B? Listen and learn about the historical and cultural significance of the land from local knowledge keepers and Elders. Ask how they might guide you in stewarding the land for future generations.
A Call to Action
“Land acknowledgement, done well, is a memory. A memory of the future.” (K. Wayne Yang, 2022).
In response to this quote and in closing, I invite you to consider developing a land-practice, leaving you with these questions:
- How might you incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing into your work and personal life?
- How might you develop a responsible practice that cares for the future of the land itself, not just the generations of people who will dwell on this land?
- How might learning to pay attention to the characteristics of the land develop into a practice that reconciles humans with each other and the earth?
- How can you take an active role in responding to the TRC (2015) calls to action personally and professionally?
- What actions can you take to deconstruct colonial systems by creating a respectful practice of noticing, connecting, building relationships, and listening will develop into actions of reciprocity that give back to all humans and the earth for generations to come?
This journey is ongoing with no end-point or final goal. My role as a non-Indigenous woman is to listen, to learn, and to share my offering forward with humility with the hopes of creating a ripple effect or learning and curiosity. The land is our teacher with an infinite amount of lessons for us if only we collectively slow down, be wide awake, and listen carefully to Elders and to the land herself.
References
Cajete, G. (1994). Look to the mountain: An ecology of Indigenous education. Kivaki Press.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC). (2015a). Truth and reconciliation commission of Canada: Calls to action [Report]. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2091412-trc-calls-to-action
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC). (2015b). Truth and Reconciliation Commission Reports. https://nctr.ca/records/reports/
Yang, W.K. (2022, April 23). Tribal sovereignty and Indigenous education: Situating land-tax, #LandBack, land acknowledgements in equity discourse. American Educational Research Association 2022, hybrid conference. https://www.aera.net/Events-Meetings/2022-Annual-Meeting
