Land Acknowledgement

“For starters, a land acknowledgement is a largely symbolic gesture, but represents a starting point to build and improve a relationship with First Nations. It is hard to see how a government directive to employees to avoid taking even that bare minimum step has us moving forward on a path of reconciliation and partnership.”

The six chiefs of the Wolastoqey Nation say the province has issued a “gag” order to New Brunswick public employees which bans them from issuing land acknowledgements.


“We are deeply disappointed by the Government of New Brunswick’s (GNB) new policy on territorial land acknowledgement,” says a statement released Friday by the nation.



“The policy, which forbids GNB staff from issuing territorial or title acknowledgements, is purported to be in partial response to the Wolastoqey title claim. We were forced to file a title claim because our rights continue to be ignored by GNB.



“Now in response to this, the Province seeks to further trample our rights and erase us from the history of this province.”

The voice and perspective that is being heard in this article the disappointed and angry Wolastoquey Nation. A bias that could effect this article is that this article in written on a indigenous news article written by indigenous people and this article depicts something bad happening to indigenous people and that could effect how the article paints the other side of the story. I personally think that it was horrible of the new Brunswick government to stop land acknowledgements and it was a step in the wrong direction of where we should be going.

"Land acknowledgements have been growing in popularity in the past 10 years to the point they’re now at most events or gatherings. But while they’re common, some question if they’re useful in reconciliation or simply superficial platitudes meant to give the illusion of honour and respect for indigenous land and nations."

"People unsure of how to properly offer an acknowledgment should research ones that have been given, find one that speaks to them, and give the acknowledgement from the heart, so it resonates.

“We don’t want people to just read from a script,” she said, adding these words can also give indigenous people comfort in a space that’s not their own."

This article is written from the perspective on indigenous people who are critical of Land acknowledgements. A possible bias that could effect this article is the Canadian governments previous reputation with indigenous people being very poor could affect how critical the article is of them. I personally think that this article was very reasonable, I think this because they were not criticizing the act of land acknowledgements themselves they were just explaining how it could actually be damaging if they were done incorrectly.

The New Brunswick government will hire a wizard or sorcerer after learning land acknowledgements may actually be magical spells capable of returning land to First Nations in the province.

The voice and perspective this article is coming from is a indigenous satirical perspective that is critical of land acknowledgements. A bias that could affect how this article is written is the previous reputation that the Canadian government had when it comes to working with indigenous people, this reputation could cause the article to be more critical. I personally like this article, I think that is it funny and that it does a good job of showing the point of if people don't take action to back up land acknowledgements that not enough is being done.

"Many governments acknowledge the land they’re on as being traditional Indigenous territories. For the first time Monday, the Manitoba government made a land acknowledgement. For years the PC government rejected calls to open the house with a formal land acknowledgment. When former Premier Brian Pallister resigned, interim Premier Kelvin Goertzen began laying the groundwork to have an acknowledgement made. The province's three political parties agreed unanimously after consulting with Indigenous leaders and history was finally made."

The voice and perspective this article is coming from is relived and happy indigenous people that Manitoba has finally done their first land acknowledgement. A bias that could have effected the writing is that the Manitoba provincial government pushed back a lot when they were firs asked to do land acknowledgements. This could make it so there are undertones of frustration in the writing. personally think that it is great that Manitoba started to land acknowledgements but I also think that it was long overdue and should have happened sooner.

"Selena Mills, an Indigenous writer, shares a perspective on the ways of reconciliation. As referenced in the speech given by Ms. Sa’d, Mills writes, “Land acknowledgments help Canadians recognize and respect Indigenous peoples’ inherent kinship beliefs when it comes to the land, especially since those beliefs were restricted for so long.” The purpose of a visual land acknowledgment, then, is to present historically accurate information so that present-day society can respect the history and culture of the Peoples of the land, and recognize that the land that we live and learn on is stolen from Indigenous peoples. Even in today’s society, Indigenous people suffer from discrimination, inequality, and injustices perpetrated by settler governments, individuals, and institutions."

This article is voiced and from the perspective of indigenous people who feel honored and who are not critical of land acknowledgements' bias that could have effected this article is that it was written by a student that goes to the high school that hosted the land acknowledgement, it is very likely that the author and her friend directly worked on it so that could heavily effect how good it is portrayed to be in the article. I think having a larger scale and visual is a great thing and I am glad that this Brampton high school did one.