Land Acknowledgment
The Land Acknowledgement is done to remember and honour those that cared for and lived on the land 1000s of years before it became Canada. The Land Acknowledgement tells the true history of this land we call Canada, and that it was inhabited by the First Peoples long before Christopher Columbus claimed to discover it. From the first moment Columbus came to the America’s violence and colonization occurred and continues today (Robertson, 2019).
We acknowledge and honour the Anishinaabe, Haudenoshaunee, and Lenape people of Southwestern Ontario as the traditional owners and custodians of the lands and waterways where Fanshawe College is located. Further, we acknowledge the cultural diversity of all Indigenous peoples and pay respect to Elders past, present and future. We celebrate the continuous living cultures of the original inhabitants of Canada and acknowledge the important contributions Indigenous people have and continue to make in Canadian society. The College respects and acknowledges our Indigenous students, staff, Elders and Indigenous visitors who come from many nations.
While land acknowledgements are an important starting point for working towards truth and reconciliation, it’s essential that we remember that that’s what it is: a starting point. If we do land acknowledgements without taking serious steps towards understanding the truth of Canada’s shameful history of oppression of Indigenous peoples (that continues today) and without actively working towards challenging and dismantling Settler Colonialism, our land acknowledgements become meaningless tokens.
