Developing Deeper Connections to the Land

Beyond just words, Land Acknowledgements are meaningful gestures of appreciation and understanding 

Chances are that the last time you went to a big public event it started off with a Land Acknowledgment. These days, they're becoming more common and are seen as an important way to set good intentions at a gathering. Increasingly, they mean a lot to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, serving as a tangible action in our commitments to truth and reconciliation. 

“I remember when I first heard a land acknowledgement. I thought ‘well, that's pretty cool, they're acknowledging our people, the first people of Turtle Island, and that we were here and that this land is a part of us’. I thought that was so great. But over time, it just became repetitive, it became empty in the way that words can after a while. Once you hear it over, and over, and over again, and it's exactly the same thing that they're just reading off, it loses its power.” [Elder Darryl Brass] 

Despite good intentions, words spoken without genuine consideration or reflection can quickly become hollow. However, when we personalize land acknowledgments and really think about what the land means to us individually, we can develop a deeper connection to the land and the Indigenous peoples who have lived in harmony with it for generations. It becomes more than just a formality, it becomes a meaningful gesture of appreciation and understanding. 

Honouring the Land Through Art 

At our Trellis Iitoh'kanop (ee-doh-gun-nope) location, Indigenous friends and teammates beautifully depicted their interpretations of land acknowledgments, serving as powerful reminders of the importance of honoring the traditional territories upon which we tread. Through these artworks, we are invited to reflect on the past, present, and future of our relationship with the land and its original people, fostering a deeper understanding and reverence for our shared home. 

“I love this picture because it talks about past, present and future and the land of our sacred mother earth. Our ancestors walked this sacred earth and they loved, laughed, prayed, and worked. So that's what I see in this. They made decisions for future generations, so that their legacy is how we walk this earth today. This is our opportunity to walk in our journeys, in our own way, and make the best decisions we can for ourselves, our families, and those around us, and what contributions we can make in life. The sun reminds us that the sun comes up every day. Every day we have an opportunity to live the best way that we can - notice I didn't say perfectly because none of us are perfect. But we make an impact on how we walk in our journey, and how we're going to walk into the future together.” [Elder Charlotte Yellowhorn McLeod] 

“We've been here for a very long time, or as some people say, ‘since time immemorial’. That's how long we've been here. The Creator put us here. So since then, a lot of our ancestors have gone to the spirit world, or as we say in Blackfoot, the Sandhills. Our spirit goes to the Sandhills, our earth body goes back to the land. Our DNA is absorbed by the animals, by the birds and the trees because they consume us when our life cycle is done. So that's what these trees did, they reminded me of that. The different colors remind me of the four corners of mother earth. This [picture] says we are the land. Our DNA is in the trees. When the birds eat us, their waste fertilizes the earth. So our people that passed on, we’re kind of like fertilizer for the earth. This person is right, we are the land.” [Elder John Chief Moon Junior, Kanai Nation, Fish Eater Clan] 

“You can see this picture’s got the mountains and the rolling hills. It says, ‘what may look empty, could be full’. When our European brothers and sisters came across the ocean, they said they’d discovered a new land, but there's always been the argument - how can you discover something that people have already discovered and are already living on? This picture reminds me of part of the reason why I'm glad we're doing a lot of acknowledgments now, which is that our people haven't being seen as people of this land, we're almost invisible to those who come here, but we are here and we've always been here. I love that people are making movements to acknowledge that.” [Elder Darryl Brass]