Land Acknowledgments are a practice that is both old and new, carried out with good intent and an enormously heavy task.\u00a0 It is an attempt to shed light on and pay tribute to the native peoples who were here, and are still here.\u00a0 It is \u201ca statement that recognizes the history and presence of Indigenous peoples and their enduring relationship to their traditional homelands\u201d (UCSC American Indian Resource Center).<\/p>\n
As part of the ACC Native American Heritage Celebration, a cultural colloquy was held to discuss land acknowledgments and deliberate on the purposes and benefits of the practice.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, November 29th at the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Center a panel discussion around the practice of land acknowledgment was held as part of the larger \u2018Cultural Mosaic\u2019 celebration of Native American heritage and culture.\u00a0 Jean Lauer, Professor of Philosophy, Religion, and Humanities facilitated the discussion which was led by Ursula Pike (Karuk), Creative Writing Professor and Author, as well as Gary Moreno, History Professor and Director of the Latin American Cultural Center also known as El Centro.<\/p>\n
The panelists asked tough questions about the practice of land acknowledgments, raising a number of issues and ideas around Native identity on college campuses in the process.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/b>What is a Land Acknowledgement?<\/b><\/p>\n
Professor Dr. Jean Lauer began the evening by reading a land acknowledgment developed by colleagues at ACC.\u00a0 She then followed with a primer on the purpose and history of land acknowledgment.\u00a0 The relatively new practice within non-native spaces stems from ancient native traditions involving honoring elders and the land itself.\u00a0 The goal of the acknowledgment, as Lauer understands it, is to honor Native people as stewards of the land and foreground settler colonialism.\u00a0 At its core, it asks: How did we get here?<\/p>\n
After this introduction, Lauer dives right into the heart of the discussion: How do the guests feel about land acknowledgments?<\/p>\n
To Land Acknowledge, or not to Land Acknowledge?<\/b><\/p>\n
Ursula Pike remembers her mother describing her childhood in California and how one year, the whole fourth grade was tasked with creating \u2018mission\u2019 dioramas<\/a>. The assignment glorified a past that for Native Americans, like Pike and her mother, is full of pain, violence, and genocide.\u00a0 But when Pike asked her mother about how she felt making this diorama, her answer surprised her.\u00a0 To her mother, it was the only time her Native community came up at school, and so she was partially grateful for this assignment for including her history (albeit a grossly offensive and inaccurate history).\u00a0 This is how Pike feels about land acknowledgments.<\/p>\n According to Pike, land acknowledgments at the beginning of a presentation or event are a problematic salve to a wound oceans wide and deep.\u00a0 At worst they can place indigenous people and history in the past and justify the status quo, but at best they can be a useful jumping-off point to a larger discussion and practice.\u00a0 The larger practices, according to Pike, can include education about the Native nations in the community, connecting to the Native communities in your local area, and attending or volunteering at events such as powwows.<\/p>\n Gary Moreno, as a Professor of History, also finds land acknowledgments lacking in depth.\u00a0 According to Moreno the practice of land acknowledgment throws all Native people together without distinguishing a complicated and ongoing history.\u00a0 They can also skip over the \u2018how\u2019 of dispossession, and gloss over a very violent past.\u00a0 According to Moreno, it is \u2018easy to land acknowledge, but harder to learn the history.\u2019<\/p>\n More Than Land Acknowledgements: Native Identity<\/b><\/p>\n College campuses can often serve as important sites of identity formation among young people, and yet according to Moreno, many Latinx students shy away from self-identifying with their indigenous roots.\u00a0 Pike agrees and adds that there is a reluctance to identify with a mixed ancestry, in contrast to what she has found in other cultures such as one indigenous community of Bolivia.\u00a0 She and Moreno explored the possible benefits of encouraging Latinx students to investigate their Indigenous ancestry and history while issuing a disclaimer against the possible appropriation or co-option of this history.<\/p>\n Land acknowledgments could serve as a step towards encouraging this identity exploration and formation on college campuses.\u00a0 Professors can play a role in steering students toward investigating their own identities and use the acknowledgment as opening the space for this exploration.<\/p>\n What Comes After Land Acknowledgements?<\/b><\/p>\n Dr. Lauer continued the discussion into ways to move beyond a performative land acknowledgment and towards a deeper reckoning with the past and present.\u00a0 She asked panelists to describe ways in which Austin Community College can grow to include more Native stories and voices.<\/p>\n Pike discussed how in her own Creative Writing classes, she often teaches Native writers.\u00a0 She calls on all disciplines to include more Native works in the curriculum.\u00a0 Moreno agrees and adds that the College could bring in more Indigenous speakers and performers, as well as take students on a trip to existing events such as the Austin Powwow<\/a>.<\/p>\n To take it a step further, panelists discussed how everyone at the college can dig deeper to discover Native history on this land.\u00a0 This includes the celebratory, triumphant parts of Native History.\u00a0 Ruben Ramirez, an audience member, and Manufacturing Coordinator at ACC, agrees.\u00a0 He discussed growing up in West Texas with no real connection to his Native roots – that all changed after visiting Mexico City and discovering the vast, epic, and incredible history of his Native ancestry.\u00a0 He posited how we can all do a better job of exposing children and young people to their history and encouraging a recognition of and pride in this history.<\/p>\n So what if you decide to continue with the practice of land acknowledgment?\u00a0 The panel does not explicitly discourage the practice entirely, as long as it is done thoughtfully and considerately.<\/p>\n How ACC Celebrates Native American Heritage<\/b><\/p>\n We want to express a heartfelt thank you to Dr. Jean Lauer, Dr. Gary Moreno, and Ursula Pike for participating as panelists and sharing their knowledge and experiences.<\/p>\n This colloquy was made possible through a collaboration between the Teaching and Learning Excellence Division (TLED), the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Center, ACC Philosophy, Religion, and Humanities Department, Liberal Arts Area of Studies, and the ACC Latin American\u00a0 Cultural Center (El Centro).<\/p>\n