Let’s say that you live in a house. It is a wonderful, spacious house with a large, green yard. This house was built on land that your grandmother stole from a man named Jack Turner. She straight up shot him, took his land, and built the house. Jack Turner’s grandson Greg also lives in your town. On account of the whole robbery and murder business, he is a lot poorer than you.
Do you:
A) Give the house and land back to Greg Turner because it was wrongfully taken.
B) Keep the house and land. The robbery was a long time ago, and the house and all of its renovations were done by your family.
C) Apologize and invite Greg to come move in with you for free room and board.
Or
D) Make Greg take the day off from work to put up a map in front of your house showing that it used to belong to his grandfather, along with the words “We’re very sorry.” Every time you have someone over to your house, say “We acknowledge that we are on Jack Turner’s land” and pat yourself on the back for your inclusive practices and commitment to social justice.
Probably not D, right?
From the Native Governance Center, at nativegov.org:
Land acknowledgment is only one small part of supporting Indigenous communities. We hope our land acknowledgment statement will inspire others to stand with us in solidarity with Native nations.
Solidarity can look like:
— Donating time and money to Indigenous-led organizations.
— Amplifying the voices of Indigenous people leading grassroots change movements.
— Returning land.
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