land acknowledgment

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Land acknowledgment, also called territory acknowledgment, is the practice of making a brief statement to recognize and honor the indigenous heritage of the land where an event is taking place or a website or business is located.

Why

As the Duwamish Tribe describes in How to Make a Land Acknowledgement

For non-Indigenous communities, land acknowledgement is a powerful way of showing respect and honoring the Indigenous Peoples of the land on which we work and live. Acknowledgement is a simple way of resisting the erasure of Indigenous histories and working towards honoring and inviting the truth.

Controversy

Some perceive land acknowledgment as a token gesture when not done thoughtfully, such as when using a pre-scripted statement, or when not accompanied with a change in practices.

How

Guidance

• Duwamish Tribe guide to land acknowledgment

IndieWeb Examples

• Jacky Alciné since 2022-??-?? has a short acknowledgement of the land he currently lives on in the footer of every page of his site
• Tracy Durnell since 2022-12-09 has a land acknowledgment statement on her about page
• Kimberly Hirsh includes a land acknowledgement in the footer of her website

Other Personal Websites

• Gurdeep Pandher, located in Canada, includes a land acknowledgment and Black Lives Matter statement in the footer of his website
• Leonie Dawson, located in Australia, includes a land acknowledgment in the footer of her website
• Rach Smith, located in Australia, includes an "acknowledgment of country" on the homepage
• Tara Robertson, located in Canada, includes a land acknowledgement in the footer
• Stephen Heard, located in Canada, includes a land acknowledgement on an about page
• Madeleine Jubilee Saito, located in Seattle, includes a land acknowledgment on an about page
• evelyn masso, located in Los Angeles, includes a land acknowledgment in their bio
• Naz Hamid, located in San Francisco, includes a land acknowledgment in the colophon of an about page
• Ruben Schade acknowledges the native peoples on whose lands Schade's servers are located on their about page
• Silver Huang, located in Australia, includes a land acknowledgement in the footer of her website

Other Examples

• Native Governance Center has a webpage devoted to land acknowledgment
• Coast Salish History Project website includes a territorial acknowledgment in the footer
• City of Sammamish, WA includes a land acknowledgment on their government page
• Moonpie Gardens, a solo gardening consultant, includes a land acknowledgment in the footer

Resources

• Native Land shows approximate traditional territories of indigenous peoples
• Whose Land includes a map of treaties with indigenous peoples
• A guide and call to acknowledgment by the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture (a non-government organization)
• Know the Land Territories Campaign including tips for the person doing the acknowledgment at a public event
• Khelsilem’s Tips for Acknowledging Territory 1.0 includes thoughts about the wording 'unceded'