Why a Land Acknowledgement?

I want to state explicitly why I have a land acknowledgment on my website, and subtly in my social media bios. I’ve heard some Indigenous people say they would appreciate individuals and institutions stating land acknowledgements, or at least institutions/companies. Others understandably find the gesture insincere, and a painful reminder of still-unreturned lands, a reminder of the pain inflicted upon their people in that land theft. I’ve gone back and forth over the years between these two understandings or requests.

At this time, I choose to provide a land acknowledgment because I believe the people who have the closest relationship to something have the best ability to name and describe it. Whether it’s a bird or plant, or a region of land, those who have the longest and closest experience of those beings has the best ability and understanding to describe and name. And so with that, I honor the names given by the people who undoubtedly have the longest standing and closest connection with the place I am in. Acknowledging that I continue to benefit from living in this place, while doing what I can as an individual to address past and continuing harm, support repair, and redistribute wealth* in accordance with the multi-pronged Land Back movement.

*monthly financial contributions to the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, the Bail Project, and Doctors Without Borders.