While cruising through social media recently I came across a video that spoke about an article that discusses the purpose of land acknowledgements. It spiked my interest and led to me search out the original content. The article resonated with me because of my current inner turmoil with all the land acknowledgments that I have listened to recently in my post-secondary educational journey. Most recently one being explained to me in a talking circle for this specific English class.

From my point of view the numerous land acknowledgments seem insincere and almost forced. Upon reading the article I realized that the feelings I feel are those among many people who not only hear but also say land acknowledgements. The author Graeme Wood states that, “A land acknowledgment is what you give when you have no intention of giving land” (Wood). This is exactly what it feels like to me that multiple organizations including Medicine Hat College, Medicine Hat Public School Division, and other public organizations do to look like they are doing to help reconciliation. This is a problem with how Canada is moving forward with their reconciliation to native peoples. What exactly does reconciliation look like? Simply a prepared land acknowledgement is not enough in my opinion, it is the actions outside of what you read off an assigned statement that matters. Wood says and I agree with, “Land acknowledgments are just words, and words can distract from real issues” (Wood).

Wood suggests a few examples in the article on how to go about land acknowledgments that were very powerful, and I highly suggest we all look at this perspective to be better informed.

Works Cited

Wood, Graeme. “‘Land Acknowledgments’ Are Just Moral Exhibitionism.” The Atlantic, 28 Nov. 2021, www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/against-land-acknowledgements-native-american/620820/.