Land Acknowledgement
BCcampus acknowledges the səl̓ilwətaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsleil-Waututh), Skwxwú7mesh-ulh Temíx̱w (Squamish), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), W̱SÁNEĆ (Saanich), and the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations of the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) Peoples, on whose traditional territories we are privileged to live, work, and learn. Through our work we are learning to incorporate Indigenous epistemologies into our actions and understandings, supporting decolonization, reconciliation, and Indigenization to advocate systemic changes in the post-secondary environment of B.C.
Learner Notes: The Importance of Land Acknowledgements
You may have attended a function where there was a land acknowledgement made. You may have experience doing a land acknowledgement. This is a moment of recognition for the land you are currently on and the people who descend from it, generation upon generation.
Understanding the importance of a land acknowledgement, being present in the moment, and thinking about the peoples who once solely inhabited the land is just the beginning.
Understanding the true history of Canada and its attempted genocide of the Indigenous Peoples is a difficulty learning journey. Understanding the importance of, and meaning of, land acknowledgements is a good place to start.
Land acknowledgements were historically a traditional practice of trade among Indigenous Peoples. It was very important to acknowledge the land being visited and to express gratitude for being a guest on that land, and for an Indigenous trader to share the land they called home.
A land acknowledgement remains a way of recognizing and expressing gratitude to the First Nations, Inuit, or Métis land that you are on. Land acknowledgements run deeper than just simply acknowledging the land. To fully understand the level of importance of a land acknowledgement, we need to understand the traumatic history that plagued Indigenous Peoples and the lasting effects of that history today.
Source and recommended reading: The Importance of Land Acknowledgements – Small Business BC
