Tribal Land Acknowledgements - What they Are and Why We Need to Do Them

If you are not including Indigenous voices, you are not doing anti-racist work, and you are certainly not decolonizing curriculum. Period.

I cannot and do not speak for all Indigenous people. However, I am a person of Indigenous descent who has personal experiences, membership in a tribal community, local Indigenous connections, and knowledge through research and reading. In my experience, most people in the United States know almost nothing about the Indigenous people who were here, are here, and will continue to be here.

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I have been a teacher of children and adults for over thirty years. Specifically, I'm a special education teacher and an anti-racism instructor/ facilitator. The events of this past year have highlighted, or refocused, national attention on anti-racism. I noticed many schools hiring DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) Directors; setting anti-racism goals as a district and asking teachers to do the same; and updating their websites to have multicultural resource "hubs," just to name a few things. I have also noticed that in almost every situation, when I ask about, or bring up, the Indigenous perspective, I am met with silence at best, or counter arguments citing the places where "diversity" has already been included at worst. This is a false comparison.

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This land starts and ends with Indigenous Peoples

When I say Indigenous people are invisible, I mean more invisible than you even think. This land, now known as North and South America, has been home to Indigenous nations from time immemorial. Indigenous people have not emigrated to anywhere in the world in large numbers. That means, there is no other place in the world where mass migrations of Indigenous people have immigrated. For example, there is no other place in the world where one would expect the history, leaders, and contributions of Wampanoag, Cherokee, Aztec, Arawak, Diné, or Maya, among others, to be discussed.

"We are already diversifying" is not an appropriate response when talking about Indigenous people because every other ethnic, racial, and religious group that is living in the United States has another place in the world where their ancestors are from. There is already a place for their people and their voices, experiences, examples, history, and contributions, to be experienced and told. We should absolutely expect to learn the true and accurate stories of this land, and this land's longest occupants, especially when we reside on this land where the people and their stories happened. This land starts and ends with Indigenous people. And that makes all the difference

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Developing a Tribal Land Acknowledgement

One of the first steps that an individual or collective can do is to develop a Tribal Land Acknowledgment or TLA. It leans into unerasing and makes visible the Indigenous people of the land where you are or your event is happening. Indigenous nations rarely do land acknowledgments for their own land, though they typically do acknowledge their own ancestry, often in their tribal language. However, if an organization or group has an Indigenous student or staff member who wants or requests to do so, it makes sense to have them deliver a TLA in whatever way they see fit. Non-Indigenous people should do TLAs in an effort to acknowledge the attempted genocide of Indigenous people, take ownership of being visitors on someone else's territory, potentially introduce current events, and most importantly, to unerase the Indigenous voices, experiences, examples, history, and contributions, while dismantling oppression and stereotypes.

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When developing a TLA, one must be careful in consideration of what they include. For example, territory names and the Indigenous people who live on them sometimes vary, depending on what year is being used as a reference point, what map is being used, and if it is an Indigenous source or colonizer source. In addition, some areas had several nations moving in and out over time or were part of the "praying villages" and relocation, too. Some territorial "lines" are still being disputed currently. We must do our best, with the resources we have. All in all, in some cases, it's complicated to uncover the original inhabitants.

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Acknowledging one's personal piece of learning is an important and necessary part of this work. Talk about the challenges. Talk about what you learned in the process. Connect to current events, like the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women (#MMIW) which is three times the national average of white women. Solidarity is symbolized by a red handprint.

Or, connect to the discovery of thousands of unmarked graves discovered at government organized Boarding Schools this year. Boarding Schools ended in 1978 in the U.S., but not until 1996 in Canada. We need to remember that political, state, and country boundaries crossed Indigenous territory and nations may now live across these arbitrary lines. Boarding School survivors are still dealing with trauma from physical and sexual abuse.

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So as you develop a TLA make sure that it is dynamic and changes as needed. Make it your own.

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Analyzing Current Events

Remember, as you become aware of current events, whose stories are we learning and whose story is invisible? Who benefits from the invisibility and silence? As adults, we have the choice to dig deeper and learn more.

• What do you think of when you think of Minnesota? After seeing the film, Dawnland, I learned that as of 2016, Minnesota had more Indigenous children in foster care than any other state. Even though less than 2% of the children in the state are Indigenous, they make up nearly 25% of the children in foster care, which is more than double the next highest state. Indigenous children are ten times more likely to end up in foster care in Minnesota.
• When you heard about "Tulsa," did you think of the Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo), Wahzhazhe Ma zha (Osage), Muscogee (Creek), and Caddo nations? Tulsa is "Indian Territory." The word, "Tulsa'' comes from "Tallasi" which means "old town" in the Creek language.
• When and where did "international slavery" begin? Before the "Americas" were even named, the person now known as Christopher Columbus captured Indigenous people in the Caribbean and sent them to Europe to be enslaved, initiating the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

These stories of Indigenous history, current events, and people also need to be told. These stories need to be prioritized. If you are not bringing Indigenous voices into the conversation, then you are not doing anti-racism, decolonizing, or fighting colonialism.

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Resources

• More information about #MMIW can be found here.
• More information about the Emmy award winning film, Dawnland, can be found here.
• More information about the discovery of children’s mass graves at Boarding Schools can be found here.

Tribal Land Acknowledgement Resources:

WHAT?

• Land Acknowledgement (National Museum of American Indian - will automatically download document)
• Land acknowledgements are about better relations, not just checking a box

WHY (& WHAT)?

• Why do a Land Acknowledgement? Nativegov.org
• What to think about when doing a "land acknowledgement" at a gathering Debbie Reese's Blog (also a great source for curated First Nations books/ literature)
• A Guide for Land Acknowledgements by Lorén Spears

WHERE?

• Native Land App (It’s a starting point. Input an Address to find the original people on the land, it's updating all the time, so check back frequently)
• Tribal Nations Maps, a source of hard copy maps that identify the traditional lands of Tribes in North and South America and the Caribbean
• Smithsonian's digital archive of treaties made between the United States and Indigenous Tribes.

IT'S NOT ENOUGH

• Indigenous land acknowledgments alone won't advance reconciliation, say critics
• Podcast: Acknowledgements need to include obligations/commitments

About the Author

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Professional educator and social justice activist Claudia Fox Tree, M.Ed. (Arawak/Yurumein) teaches courses and workshops on transforming curriculum and culturally responsive teaching practices.

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She also leads conversations "un-erasing" Native American First Nations People (FNP). She gives voice to Indigenous experiences (past and present) and asks allies and co-conspirators to come on the journey with her. Her presentations feature discussions on identity, culture, contributions, stereotypes, and historical inaccuracies.