You can customize your course's land acknowledgment for free. Read more about how to customize and what options are available.
👤 This article is for the main point of contact for a participating organization.
Adding your land acknowledgment
As part of the free customizations available to your organization, you can choose to install your organization's own land acknowledgment.
Read on to see what options are available and how to submit your own land acknowledgment.
In this article, find the following answers:
- What is a land acknowledgment?
- What options are available for land acknowledgments?
- How to get a land acknowledgment
What is a land acknowledgment?
Land acknowledgments are formal acknowledgments (recognitions) of Indigenous peoples, nations, and cultures of the land (area). Land acknowledgments are often spoken at the beginning of events, and are also often included in items such as email signatures and company statements. They are also sometimes called territory acknowledgments.
"Making a land acknowledgment should be motivated by genuine respect and support for [Indigenous peoples]. Speaking and hearing words of recognition is an important step in creating collaborative, accountable, continuous, and respectful relationships with Indigenous nations and communities."
National Museum of the American Indian
What options are available for land acknowledgments?
If you have your own custom land acknowledgment it can be installed free of cost in your course. Click here to submit your land acknowledgment to the Reconciliation Education team.
If your land acknowledgment isn't ready now, it can be added later.
If you don't have your own custom land acknowledgment, don't panic! We suggest using one of the options below.
Option 1: First Nations University of Canada
You are welcome to use the land acknowledgment of First Nations University of Canada. We recommend this for organizations without land acknowledgments because FNU is a national organization and one of the original course creators. It provides an example of a well-written, meaningful land acknowledgment and pays respect to First Nations University and the Elders who guided the course. The standard version of the 4 Seasons of Reconciliation features this land acknowledgment automatically.
Option 2: the Calgary Foundation learning moment
In lieu of a land acknowledgment, you may choose instead to feature a learning moment about land acknowledgment. We suggest this option if your organization is in the process of drafting a land acknowledgment or expects to create one in the future.
Watch the video below.
Option 3: First Nations University of Canada & the Calgary Foundation
You can also choose to combine Option 1 and Option 2, and feature both the land acknowledgment of First Nations University of Canada and the learning video from the Calgary Foundation. This option provides an example of a land acknowledgment from a meaningful source, and also provides a learning opportunity. We suggest this option for organizations who are new to the reconciliation space and may not have plans to create their own land acknowledgment in the near future.
Once you've chosen a land acknowledgment, let your Reconciliation Education team member know.
If you have a custom land acknowledgment ready to go, submit it here.
How to get a land acknowledgment
If you don't have a land acknowledgment now, that's okay. You can take your time to meaningfully craft your land acknowledgment and submit it when it's ready.
Here are 2 starting places for learning about the process of creating a land acknowledgment.