Tribal land acknowledgments are rapidly growing in popularity among institutions and organizations, taking the form of opening statements in meetings and conferences, signage, or website messages. One might ask why land acknowledgments are being made in a growing number of settings, including the museum. Acknowledgment is a simple, powerful way of showing respect and is intended as a step toward correcting the practices that erase or freeze Indigenous people’s history and culture while inviting and honoring the truth. However, the land acknowledgment is also at risk of ending where it began, perhaps well-conceived and received, but merely a symbolic gesture with little to no follow-through of engagement and real change. While land acknowledgements are well-meaning, they are no substitute for substantive and ongoing tribal relationships and understandings of tribal land claims.
2. KEY QUESTIONS
Why have a land acknowledgement? Who is
the audience?
How can a protocol for action build upon a land
acknowledgement?
What are some ingredients of successful long-
term tribal-museum collaborations?
8. How can a protocol for
action build upon—or
replace—a land
acknowledgement?
9. ECOTRUST Call to Action
ECOTRUST (Portland, Oregon) Lisa J. Watt
(Seneca), Director of Indigenous Leadership
Program
https://ecotrust.org/call-to-action-for-
indigenous-communities/
Call to Action for Indigenous Communities
While land acknowledgements are intended to be
respectful, they oversimplify complex tribal
histories and fail to recognize the ongoing
impacts of colonization that tribal communities
continue to live with to this day.
In place of a land acknowledgement, Ecotrust
staff—and especially the Native staff—are asking
you to support Indigenous communities by taking
action. [Lists 8 specific actions]
10. Protocols for Action
What would it mean to partner a land acknowledgement
with action in your institution?
Example of University of Alberta:
https://www.ualberta.ca/centre-for-teaching-and-
learning/teaching-support/indigenization/land-
acknowledgements.html
11. Coupling words with institutional power
Going beyond “inclusion” or
“acknowledgement” to transformational change
Raises key questions about how decisions are
made and resources are controlled or shared
17. George and Colleen Hoyt Endowed Fund
for Native American Weaving Arts
Alfred “Bud” Lane III (Siletz) 2001 Basket cap
Hazel, bear grass, maidenhair fern
18. The Art of Ceremony:
Regalia of Native Oregon
2007-2009
NEA American Masterpieces
Project
Venues:
HFMA, OR Historical Society
Tamástslikt Cultural Institute
The Museum at Warm Springs
26. Welcome Figure
to be
dedicated—
today!
Bobby Mercier (Grand
Ronde) designed and carved
a Welcome Figure for the
HFMA that will serve as a
permanent presence,
welcoming and reminding
visitors and community
members that we are on
Kalapuyan Land.
27. Lessons
Relationship-building is a long-term process for both individuals and
institutions
Secure long-term institutional commitments (protocols,
endowments, regular programming, positions)
Institutionalize broad responsibility for relationship-building
28. Thank you!
Thank you to colleagues Roberta “Bobbie” Conner and Jennifer
Karson Engum, Tamástslikt Cultural Institute, David Lewis, Oregon
State University, and Elizabeth Woody, The Museum at Warm Springs
Thank you to the Western Museums Association
Rebecca Dobkins, Curator and Professor, Hallie Ford Museum of Art,
Willamette University
rdobkins@willamette.edu
Editor's Notes
Will try to answer these from my own institution
My first experience with land acknowledgments & protocols was in NZ; more of an indigenous protocol of one iwi asking to enter the territory of another. Protocol-rich; included calling of ancestors, introductions, songs, sharing. Not a checklist. Indigenous-to-indigenous, nation-to-nation process.
Elements of truth (acknowledgement), justice (upholding treaty rights, addressing historical wrongs), change (transformation of power relations)