At a recent THHS Senior Leadership meeting I was honoured to be asked to offer a Land Acknowledgement. Friends, we all know about these because the reciting of Land Acknowledgements has become so commonplace that you’ll hear them at the start of hockey games and concerts, meetings and conferences and all manner of events, and even sometimes written at the bottom of corporate email signatures.
And that’s all great.
But in an era of formal reconciliation, they’ve risked becoming almost political statements, and from my recent learning many Indigenous people argue they’ve grown to become somewhat superficial and performative, and therefore problematic.
Ta7talíya Michelle Nahanee offers workshops on how to give territorial acknowledgements. She’s Squamish from Ustlawn First Nation in B.C., and her overriding teaching is that land acknowledgements shouldn’t be “copied, pasted and read,” but rather should be meaningful personal commitments.
To quote her: “I don’t tell people which words to use but I ask them to consider each word carefully and critically. I want people to be able to back up what you’re saying and truly believe in it.”
Another important thing I’ve recently learned is that Land Acknowledgements should focus on the positivity of who Indigenous Peoples are today. The Indigenous and Metis people remain cultural and spiritual keepers of their traditional lands and to this day they importantly practice their values, languages, beliefs and knowledge. From here forward I want to be personally grateful for, and respectful of, the privilege to use my voice wherever possible to thank these peoples for their hospitality while we share in these lands.
As this month specifically (although hopefully every month!) has the missional themes of Justice and Reconciliation, I want to encourage all of us, THHS colleagues, to make not only Land Acknowledgements but all forms of expression toward all with whom we walk within our communities, a very personal commitment. This is an integral part of how we strive to be “the hand of God, in the heart of the city.”
– Stewart King
Manager – Gateway Linens
Prayer for Reconciliation
Holy One,Creator of all that is, seen and unseen, of story and of song, of heartbeat and of tears, of bodies, souls, voices and all relations: You are the God of all truth and the way of all reconciliation. Uphold with your love and compassion all who open their lives in the sacred sharing of their stories; breathe in us the grace to trust in your loving forgiveness, that we may face our histories with courage; touch us through the Holy gift of story that those who speak and those who listen may behold Your own redeeming presence; guide us with Holy wisdom to enter through the gates of remorse that our feet may walk gently and firmly on the way of justice and healing.
Amen.
– From KAIROS
“We are Indigenous, settlers and newcomers in Canada working with people of faith or conscience all over the world for ecological justice and human rights.”