Land Acknowledgements and Why They Matter
To help the University of Guelph community – specifically those on the Guelph campus – better understand land acknowledgements, BLA alumnus / Rural Planning and Development grad student Ryan Matheson collaborated with local Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members to create the Land Acknowledgements and Why They Matter video.
As part of his research assistantship with Dr. Sheri Longboat, School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, Matheson collaborated with more than 20 community members to develop a script that explains the purpose of land acknowledgements and provides context for how to create them.
“It’s not just putting a statement out there and moving on – it’s recognizing how the historical and ongoing interactions between land and people directly impact why you’re sitting where you are now, and it should force you to think about what you’re going to do here,” says Matheson.
The video includes a drum song offered by Mino Ode Kwewak N’gamowak (Good Hearted Women Singers), a drum circle in Kitchener-Waterloo. This song was created by Anishinaabe Elder Jake Pine. Women from a number of First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities make up the drum circle.
Kelly Laurila, who is songcarrier for the drum circle, explains that the Prophecy Song heard in the video is about welcoming settler peoples to come together with Indigenous peoples and remembering how to be good human beings.
Says Laurila, “It’s meant to be about creating a welcoming space and bringing our lives together in a way that brings justice, and justice for Indigenous peoples in particular.”
More information about the artwork in the video is available on Anishinabe Kwe artist Jessie Buchanan’s website.
Matheson himself is of settler heritage. “I’m here as privileged and uninvited guest,” he says. “Land acknowledgements should push us to engage with that reality and not let it just wash over us.”
To help the University of Guelph community – specifically those on the Guelph campus – better understand land acknowledgements, grad student Ryan Matheson collaborated with local Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members to create the Land Acknowledgements and Why They Matter video.
As part of his research assistantship with Dr. Sheri Longboat, School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, Matheson collaborated with more than 20 community members to develop a script that explains the purpose of land acknowledgements and provides context for how to create them.
“It’s not just putting a statement out there and moving on – it’s recognizing how the historical and ongoing interactions between land and people directly impact why you’re sitting where you are now, and it should force you to think about what you’re going to do here,” says Matheson.
The video includes a drum song offered by Mino Ode Kwewak N’gamowak (Good Hearted Women Singers), a drum circle in Kitchener-Waterloo. This song was created by Anishinaabe Elder Jake Pine. Women from a number of First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities make up the drum circle.
Kelly Laurila, who is songcarrier for the drum circle, explains that the Prophecy Song heard in the video is about welcoming settler peoples to come together with Indigenous peoples and remembering how to be good human beings.
Says Laurila, “It’s meant to be about creating a welcoming space and bringing our lives together in a way that brings justice, and justice for Indigenous peoples in particular.”
More information about the artwork in the video is available on Anishinabe Kwe artist Jessie Buchanan’s website.
Matheson himself is of settler heritage. “I’m here as privileged and uninvited guest,” he says. “Land acknowledgements should push us to engage with that reality and not let it just wash over us.”
For more information and resources please visit the UofG Land Acknowledgement webpage.