Developing a Meaningful Land Acknowledgement for Your Organization
In light of recent news regarding the travesties of Native American boarding schools, more business owners, community colleges, and K-12 schools in the U.S. and Canada want to know how to support Indigenous communities. One way to do this is through native land acknowledgment: a public statement to honor the land’s previous residents and caretakers.
The sweeping popularity of native land acknowledgments shows that organizations across North America have been encouraged to focus on their societal value systems. However, many don’t understand the significance or responsibility of a land acknowledgment. Consequently, many organizations execute them in a performative, shallow, and potentially harmful manner. How can organizations and institutions be truly helpful and supportive rather than using hollow words to perpetuate an insincere narrative of reconciliation? The key is understanding the historical relevance and creating concrete action plans to accompany land acknowledgments.
Learn About Indigenous Culture and How Colonization Tried to Destroy It
It starts with learning about Indigenous culture and how colonization works to destroy it. The continued discovery of the unmarked graves of children at locations of former Indigenous Boarding Schools is devastating and a solid reason for the rising desire to show and offer support. Only when non-Indigenous business owners learn about the atrocities committed in the past can they begin recognition and reconciliation.
Colonization is a human trait that exists in all human beings. The key is the manner and intent in which we perpetuate a colonizing act. For instance, the ancient Polynesian mariners, upon discovering the uninhabited lands of Hawaii, set about colonizing those lands in a manner that was in sync with the laws of nature. They knew they were a part of the land and that the land was a part of them. The state motto, taken from ancient Hawaiian wisdom, is Ua mau ka ea o’ka aina I ka Pono: The Life of this Land is Perpetuated in the Righteousness.
However, the colonization we live within is founded on the ideals born from European atrocity and innovation. In our work, we mark the beginning of this era of colonization with Caesar’s Gaelic Wars of 58 B.C. — 54 B.C. At this moment in history, the Roman Empire brutally assimilated the Indigenous peoples of Northern Europe. The harm that began there continued to perpetuate throughout European history until technology finally caught up with colonized ambition. In 1492, Columbus set sail for the New World through advancements in cartography and shipwrights. With a firm understanding of these methods of colonization laid down in the journal of Gaius Julius Caesar, he set the path for his predecessors and the world we inhabit today.
These tenets of colonization are as follows:
- Take the land.
- Remove the language.
- Demonize the culture.
- Murder the men.
- Rape the women.
- Steal the children.
These tenets have been employed and continue to be used on Indigenous populations throughout the globe to dehumanize Indigenous ways of being. Since we all benefit from these atrocities, colonized non-Indigenous, North Americans must take an active role in the healing process as a collective. It’s uncomfortable, but it must be undertaken to evolve as a nation and a species.
Acknowledge How Past Colonization Impacts Lives Today
The first tangible signifier we see every day is privilege. With the proper guidance and a little introspection, it’s possible to see how significant it is within current North American culture. Acknowledging the high price of that privilege — as well as the brutality and violence that runs alongside its history — is a vital starting point to working towards decolonizing one’s privilege.
This is where land acknowledgments come into play. As a formal declaration of understanding that your organization’s land is a by-product of this process, owners, college presidents, and school principals can begin reframing mindsets and building more ethical business models. Ultimately, this leads to intelligent, sensitive, and more informed decision-making.
The next is recognition. When we guide organizations to write a land acknowledgment, we advocate for them to include a line that reads something like this:
By recognizing these lands and their traditional caretakers and original Indigenous inhabitants, we return to our indigeneity and connect to the ancient ancestry of interconnected ways of being.
This line reminds us that we are all connected to our ancestral wisdom and ways of being and knowing. Although they may be clouded by centuries of colonized-minded ancestors, we can reconnect to our indigeneity, change how we perceive the world around us, and transform our world for the better.
The final signifier is reciprocity. For school districts, higher education institutions, government entities, and non-profits, we encourage these organizations to create an ongoing relationship with local Indigenous tribes. The following are suggestions for building relationships with local tribal members but maybe start by visiting their cultural center and learning from the indigenous people in your area.
Take a bold step and fly the tribal flag alongside the U.S. and State flags at your building sites. Hire Indigenous staff into your organization, but ensure you do not tokenize them. Build community together and strive for authenticity in those endeavors. Taking these steps will cause somatic responses and elicit value-driven conversations. Learning self-regulation and self-awareness tools to navigate these conversations and responses and humility gracefully will help.
Take Concrete Steps Towards Healing and Decolonization
If you are a school leader, business leader, owner, or HR manager thinking of making a formal land acknowledgment statement, ensure it’s substantiated by an action plan supporting Indigenous culture and its people.
There are many critics of land acknowledgments, and a big point of contention is that ‘words are not enough.’ When businesses see such a statement as a quick, easy way to wash their hands of their responsibilities, this gesture becomes null and void, even counterproductive. So, how can organizations take real, evidence-based action? Ask yourself and your team:
● Has your organization been trained on the history of colonization and decolonization processes?
● Does your staff pool include Indigenous people?
● Do you acknowledge Indigenous culture in your manifesto/communications/public statements?
● Do you shed light on colonization at team events & meetings?
● Do you know the history of the land your buildings reside on?
How To Do Land Acknowledgment in an Honorable Way
Here is a 6-step plan that our market leaders in ethical business strategy Co3 Consulting developed:
1. Acknowledge the land’s original caretakers significantly and respectfully. This means learning about the Indigenous people traditionally occupying your organization’s land.
2. Make sure your statement is more than words on a screen or spoken in a microphone. The act of acknowledgment should be done with intention, sincerity, and with a plan in place to spread awareness of your knowledge and actions(i.e., email blasts, newsletters, or web content feature with links to charitable organizations such as First Nations Development Institute or Native American Rights Fund)
3. Take responsibility for the harm settler colonialism has inflicted on Indigenous people. This includes acknowledging your organization’s role in perpetuating systemic racism and discrimination and then working towards dismantling them.
4. Commit to taking action to support Indigenous communities. This might mean working with a local tribe on a project, providing financial support to an Indigenous-led organization, learning about the history, and understanding the experiences of Indigenous people.
5. Check in with Indigenous people to ensure your actions are considerate and helpful. This step is crucial to ensuring that your organization does something concrete to support reconciliation rather than stating empty words.
6. Finally, take a moment of silence to reflect on your own indigeneity and where your ancestors came from. What were their ways of being? How were they in relationship with the land, the water, and each other? Where does your knowledge stop, and assumption or indoctrination begin? This exercise is not about what you know; it’s about creating the space for what you don’t know.
If you’ve come this far, you’re ready to consider making a real impact and instigating a more diverse and culturally respectful work environment for all. However, before embarking on this essential and knowledge-driven journey, know that committing to change isn’t easy. But with the proper guidance, leaning into this difficulty and accepting the challenges you face can bring your business to the forefront of positive change.
If you found this story inspiring, click here to send Dr. G a cup of coffee.
Sources:
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/land-acknowledgment-canada_ca_5bf70d27e4b0602f753866f0
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/land-acknowledgement-ottawa-1.4889972
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2017/12/02/ recite-a-land-acknowledgement-yes-but-also-do-something.html>
About the Author
Dr. Gerry Ebalaroza-Tunnell is the Principal Consultant and CEO of Co3 Consulting: Co-Creating Cohesive Communities. The work of Co3 Consulting is based on the foundation of ALOHA and utilizes a unique blend of Indigenous philosophies and Western methods to work through decolonial healing processes.
Dr. Ebalaroza-Tunnell assists and guides organizations and institutions in developing meaningful land acknowledgments by taking leadership and staff through a process of decolonization while simultaneously defining and building a positive relationship with local Tribal members. This includes but is not limited to deepening the understanding of settler colonialism, whiteness, and allyship.
Dr. Gerry Ebalaroza-Tunnell (she/her/wahine) identifies as an Indigenous scholar born and raised on the island of O’ahu, Hawaii, and has over 20 years of experience working in public, private, and non-profit sectors with a focus on social justice, community organizing, and leadership development. Dr. G earned her doctorate in Transformative Studies and Consciousness from the California Institute of Integral Studies and her master’s in Whole Systems Design from Antioch University, Seattle. You can learn more about her work at www.Co3Consulting.net.
