An Uncomfortable Land Acknowledgement

Throughout this last week, I felt there had been a lot of new learnings while unlearning in relation to land acknowledgements. Firstly, I want to discuss how difficult it was for me to make a land acknowledgement, as I never truly realized the land I was living on for the past 18 years, which was Treaty 7 land. This was never mentioned or talked about, throughout the many years that I resided on this land. It was only once I came to a Regina that I learned about Treaties and what that meant. Since then, I feel I can acknowledge that I live on Treaty 4 land; however, it is uncomfortable for me to state that I am from Treaty 7 land, as I feel ashamed for how naive and inconsiderate I was while living on the land. This has contributed to my miskâsowin process, as I am beginning to discover more about myself, where I am finding my sense of origin & belonging.

I for-see myself using this land acknowledgement in my own classroom, so my students understand how vital these land acknowledgements are and the journey I am on. I will make it notable about how uncomfortable I have been in the process, as I think that is valuable to show to the students, that I am human too and therefore, I am not perfect nor feel I have always done right. “Learning about the treaties and the historic and contemporary contributions of Indigenous peoples is ... vital if Canadians are ever going to achieve a base level of knowledge necessary to enter into any form of ‘new relationships’ with [Indigenous peoples]" (Vowel, 2016, p.178). Speaking truth is the first step to reconciliation (Palmater, 2018), which can be done by acknowledging the land you are living on and the history behind it.

It is clear that I have had many uncomfortable learnings this past week and I feel ashamed that I did not acknowledge the Treaty 7 land I was living on before and was unaware of the history. It is now apart of my miskâsowin process to learn more about the land, Treaty 7, and how that relates to who I am as a person and all I have learned. By doing this, I believe it will unfold many single stories, in which will help with my journey to reconciliation, as I will understand more of the harsh reality of Canada’s past and what we have ignored.