So, You’ve Written a Land Acknowledgment: Now What?

Description

Has your organization written a land acknowledgment? Do you find yourself asking, “Now what?”

Indigenous land acknowledgment is growing in popularity, yet it often functions as another form of optical allyship. Native Governance Center (NGC), a Native-led nonprofit organization, released a popular guide to Indigenous land acknowledgment in 2019. Since then, NGC has received hundreds of inquiries from individuals and organizations wanting help with their land acknowledgment statements. Almost all of these inquiries have focused on land acknowledgment verbiage, rather than the all-important action steps for supporting Indigenous communities.

In response, NGC created a new approach focused on moving beyond land acknowledgment and toward action. In this session, you’ll hear from experts at Native Governance Center on why land acknowledgment can be problematic and unproductive. You’ll engage in small and large group activities to learn how to design action steps — both for yourself and for your organization. And finally, you’ll have a chance to begin creating your own action plan to support Indigenous people and nations with feedback from NGC staff.

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand why traditional land acknowledgment statements oftentimes function as optical allyship and burden Indigenous people
• Learn the steps required to create an action plan by engaging in small and large group discussions
• Create your own action plan to support Indigenous people and nations with guidance from Native Governance Center staff