Land Acknowledgement

I don’t often write Land Acknowledgements because I’m still trying to figure out how I weave something so complex and horrific (the history) and yet beautiful and complex (Nations and Peoples) into a few words. I struggle with many things in writing this but mainly “How do I use words to convey my limited understanding at this moment,” knowing that it will evolve and change as I grow in my understandings of myself, Nature, Land-based People’s, colonialism, Canada’s history, and my ancestor’s history.

So I write these words which may seem static and unchanging, knowing that I will, one day, let them go as they deepen and transform.

And so as I do my best to authentically encapsulate this I would like to own that there is awkwardness and messiness in my attempting to acknowledge something beyond my breadth. I ask for your compassion in this area, and any misunderstandings and mis-steps I may have unwittingly made.

I offer up this attempt in the spirit of hoping that my fellow descendants of settlers, immigrants, and refugees…any of us that had ancestors that partook willingly or ignorantly in the colonialism and genocide that usurped the People-that-were-already-here’s way of life, autonomy, culture, children, and wisdom – may we be part of the unraveling of some of the ways and thinking that perpetuated that mental disorder and plague of religious righteousness, patriarchy, entitlement, and “other-ing”.

I also hope to inspire a return to land-based ways that does not appropriate another’s culture – we may be orphans from our own “ancestory” but that does not mean we need to once again steal something that isn’t given freely. I believe that if we don’t know the stories and wisdom of our own ancestors that we can still find ways to return to re-membering ourselves as Nature and finding a way to live kindly and in reciprocity with all beings.

And so here goes my messy and awkward Land Acknowledgement:

I feel gratitude to call home the place and space known in English as Invermere, BC. This area is a beautifully diverse migratory corridor for many beings (Hummingbirds, Sandhill Cranes, Northern Shrike, to name a few)...and once, not so long ago (still within 3 generations of lifetime) was a migratory area for the ʔAKISQ̓NUK of the Ktunaxa and Shuswap of the Secwépemc whose Nations’ territories were vast. These Peoples tended and tend these lands as they lived and migrated through here. In return they too were tended by the abundance of the lands. This reciprocity and movement is different now than it once was, but the tending continues nonetheless.

With special acknowledgements to Columbia River Wetlands. I greet you everyday and as I live here year-round. I endeavour to live peacefully with the beings that live here with you, year round too. My heart is delighted to hear you everyday Chick-a-dees, White-tails, Coyotes, Herons. My mind quiets as I hear the voice of the mountains and their winds, listen to the rustle of Cottonwood and smell its rich sticky sap, enjoy the beauty of the flexible strength of the Willows and Dogwoods. I imagine peaceful Winter slumbers to those who will rejoin us on the surface: Yarrow, Dandelion, Badger, Skunk. I endeavour to continue to build my relationship in a healthy way and thank you for what you have taught me thus far. A selection of my learnings are featured in this book.

Whether migratory or year-round, winged, four-legged, two-legged, the belonging (longing to be with) of Land is equally valid.

I would like to acknowledge my sense of awe towards the resiliency of these great Nations and beings, to have survived such a horrific past and still be able to remember, in part, their ancestral ways.

I wonder at the resilience of my own ancestors as well, how much was able to be saved of their land-based ways before they were colonized and christianized, before they came to North America. I do not know but I recall the confusion as I read recently about the Potato Famine and how, despite the potato crops being infected, there was still an abundance of food that the farmers “weren’t allowed to eat.” I wonder at the disease and poverty of this mind-set that puts profit and productivity above the needs of people.

The truth is that I will never really know my ancestry – for the land-based, pre-colonized pre-christianized ways of my ancestors that I long to connect with, are no longer there…and maybe they never were, maybe they’re a concoction of longing my being-ness created. I do not know and never will know what it is like to be Irish, Scottish, or Welsh; I do long to go visit and see how I respond to that land (again?). Will my body sink down in a respite that only arises with a deep harmony unknown to me here in Canada? Will my being sing in response and be recognized and sung back to by Land? Or will I long to return to the only place I have known as home (Canada)?

I do not know.

And so I do the best I can, here, in this moment. I hope to help myself and fellow descendants of settlers, immigrants, and refugees to learn how to live in reciprocity, integrity of agreements, and permission – in land-based ways.

re-Sources Acknowledgement

I’ve never liked the word resource, as it is. Somehow it makes something that was alive feel dead, objectified, forgotten. But if we put a hyphen in there – re-source, then we can highlight that there’s a reusing of a Source, but a Source none-the-less.

Something important has been taken to be able to present this work to you – whether in digital or print form. Tree-Friends, homes and lands have been dug up to get to precious minerals that lay beneath the surface of Earth. Many times these re-Sources have been usurped from First People’s traditional home lands.

I know this. This makes my heart hurt. I hope that what I offer is at least somewhat worthy of that destruction and forced “sacrifice". It is my hope that one day we don’t need to have work like this, this re-membering may return to our being-ness and bones…and make this work unnecessary.

I do my best to not take these re-Sources for granted and work towards being as mindful and respectful as I can. To the original Sources that these words fall upon and in, I see you to the best of my ability and with much gratitude.

Gratitude

My family (Mumsy, K, and Pops) have been my life-long support, cheerleaders and best friends. Even when you didn't understand what I was working on, or when I thought we weren't going to make it, you were still there to offer some insights, hugs, and even at times money. Ray-Ray your hugs and our conversations are woven into this work in ways that are some of the dearest to me.

To the numerous friends and teachers along the way, including Nature. I feel you in my heart and try to honour our exchanges and your teachings with my words and actions, and my heart is full because of you.

Teachers Acknowledgement

Deepest gratitude to Dr. Mike Cohen, thank you for always being willing to listen, all the encouragement through the years and being okay with me being a turtle (slow and steady). Without the foundation of your life’s work, I wouldn’t have been able to discover my own; I hope that you can see how important your work is to mine. I am ever appreciative that you have given me permission to continue to grow and offer this work.

Dr. Leslie Whitcomb, my doctoral thesis Supervisor, friend, and colleague: I am grate-full for all the long and amazing conversations as I wound my way through this work trying to deepen my ability to understand; your ability to reflect compassion echos in me as I move through my contemplations.