Are Land Acknowledgements meaningful or performative?

What do you think? Performative or Meaningful?

Thank you for sharing this. I do believe it has just become a repetitive thing that people do because they believe it’s being respectful but have really lost the meaning around it and what it is to acknowledge the injustice over the many many years. I’ll be showing this video at my next staff meeting.

Wow. This has become an age old qurstion in short time. This might put it in perspective if I gather up all the cell phones for all the students in my class and take them to the front and tell them I'll give them back to the later and then I decide I don't want to do that but instead I say I'm acknowledging that I have your phones, I'm not giving them back to you...then what would happen? Parents upset, police might be called. I might even go to jail. But i'm still not giving them back I want them and they're mine now. That's how i see land acknowledgements. So you acknowledge it, now what? There are definitely people In mainstream society who do find the land acknowledgment to be performative. We struggle with them at my place. Thanks for the video.

Mallory, I greatly appreciate your video on Land Acknowledgement. I believe that too often these acknowledgements are done without true meaning and respect. I also believe some individuals are trying to do the right thing. Pointing out that Indigenous Peoples should not be the ones to read these acknowledgements is extremely important. When an Indigenous person is the reader then meaning is missed. Thanks for the work you do for our Indigenous Peoples.

I’m so glad you posted this video. Yakoke! As someone in the Broadway industry, this is done at so many NYC theatres and on their websites. I am sharing this on all my socials for my fellow non native theatre peers and producers.

Thank you for sharing the video, Mallory. I totally agree. I feel that in most cases reading land acknowledgements are simply performative and not leading to any meaningful action. Yet, there are positive effects of informing those people who are totally unaware of the real history.

I think it's really important to recognize that it used to be our land and it was conquered it fair and square

Thank you Mallory. Your video is really helpful and arrived in my email the same day our team was discussing land acknowledgements. Your points make a lot of sense and will help me to better ensure that any land acknowledgements I give are more thoughtful, action-oriented and respectful. I also really appreciate you sharing your wisdom and expertise in this and your other videos. I have learned a lot from you and know I have a lot more to learn!

I'm a Native American Studies M.A. student. We just had this discussion in one of my classes. Oh, and I did the likey/subscribey thing.

Thank you Mallory. You raise extremely important points of reference with sound and thought-provoking statements. Any land-acknowledgement done automatically certainly can become meaningless, but hopefully, nothing falls on deaf ears. Miigwetch .

Mallory, I deeply appreciate your patience and willingness to share this truth with those of us that are not indigenous. To me your precious, I want my conduct to leave you feeling treasured, respected. I’m committed to correcting all aspects of my behavior and language impacted by colonization. I’m committed to stopping my ways that create pain onto others. I study your ways because they are ancient and based on experience gained over time in memoriam. The ways of indigenous communities.. across the globe have clearly created communities of human beings that are based on reciprocity and gratitude. I’m my opinion, as I see it, thess communities resulted in the greatest development human beings are capable of. My colony is pure destruction. It just is, .. my ancestors.. before kings, organized religion, currency-all central power, we’re indigenous. My ancestors were current day Sami people in Finland. I can honor these ancestors and learn. My ancestors are with your ancestors.. it is a time of coming together to heal Mother Earth. Thank you for your patience and compassion in sharing. I remain silent most of the time. There are many from my colony that are committed to learning the right ‘ways’ .. work to heal one another. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 ODelle

Thank you for this. I had never even heard of land acknowledgments before this so it was very enlightening. You make great points and I appreciate your energy of common sense when presenting this information.

Just in time. I am officiating a wedding in September (upstate New York). The couple asked for a smudging ceremony and a land acknowledgment. I told them I felt uncomfortable doing the smudge, so they changed it to call it a smoke cleansing. Still not entirely comfortable. And now seeing this, I’m not comfortable with the land acknowledgment either. I do feel it was asked for to raise awareness. But now I just don’t know if I should do either.

Hi Mallory, Thank you for sharing this and very well done. As an elder for a Mens Circle group that has a ceremony for the beginning of our "work" towards bringing peace, healing, wisdom, compassion and humility to ourselves and our community, I take responsibility to to be sure that the Land acknowledgement comes from the heart. It is important to understand that the "privilege" to stand and walk where we are today came with a cost/debt. Without heartfelt awareness and "acknowledgement", it loses meaning and becomes performative. We must keep the focus on the why we do this, not just checking off the "did it" box.

Thank you for sharing this. I completely support the Native Americans I'm part Cherokee and I can remember being in school learning about the trail of tears and thinking how unfair it is that they have only a small portion of land to live on when they were here first. And the more I am learning the more unfair things are being made clear to me God Bless them 🙏 ✨️ ❤❤

Thank you for this video. This is a new phenomenon in the US. Especially in the non-profit, social justice, education space. I was asked if I would do a land acknowledgment today. I am the ONLY Native American student in my academic program. I feel like they can be a good start but are definitely performative. I am also in the camp that people of color should not have to educate white folks about injustice. That should be an ally's job. As you said, they would most likely listen to someone they already view as a leader.

So appreciate the care-full and thoughtful work you do that helps us All. 🙏🏽

I was just talking about this and how it is just a statement with no purpose. Thank you for sheding light on this!

Mallory, I hate Land acknowledgements and anything that offers lip service with no substance. I'm glad they feel better, but at what expense, and at WHOSE expense. BTW enjoyed the video, the "others" should pay heed to your lesson and ACT on them . Wenibozhoo, chi miigwetch. Muqwa HaNyoNeh.

My family has been here for damn near 200 years (I know not as long as Indigenous people) and over the course of my lifetime I have donated (paid taxes) well over half of my income to this country. I have volunteered countless times to help my community. I have never stolen, cheated or swindled from any one or any group for any of the things I have earned. I consider myself an upstanding contributor to our society. I have studied Canadian and world history quite extensively and believe that I have a decent understanding of how this Country has evolved. I have travelled to and worked in every province and territory in Canada. I consider this land to be part of me and me part of it, and quite frankly I get annoyed every time someone tries to make me feel guilty for living on "Stolen" land. I understand that Indigenous peoples were not treated very well by the First Europeans but in all honesty they weren't treating each other all that well either. Inter tribal warfare, slavery and cannibalism were not uncommon. Maybe we can agree that All of our ancestors were not always the most humane towards each other and move past it and work towards a better future for our descendants.