Land Acknowledgements are becoming more popularized at organizations, state agencies and events across the Nation. Generally, these are statements aimed at recognizing and educating about the Indigenous peoples of the region where a group, organization, or event is being held. 

It has been established by ongoing research that many non-Native peoples in the United States do not know or have not been exposed to basic information about Native American peoples. A recent report by Illuminative highlights that: “Focus group participants admit that they do not think about Native American issues and largely believe the population is declining. Many people outside of Indian Country lack personal contact with a Native American and even put the onus for this on Native Americans, describing them as insular.” (RESEARCH FINDINGS: COMPILATION OF ALL RESEARCH) In this research participants reflected that Native peoples are mostly “invisible” and that they aren’t able to get much information on Native peoples in their everyday lives. The research is also clear that many Americans are supportive of Native issues and that they also support changes to education and school curriculum to help increase knowledge about Native American peoples and issues. 

Land Acknowledgements are a practice to help make visible the ongoing presence of Native peoples in the United States. While practices of creating and content of land acknowledgements may vary, this lesson is designed to help introduce students to best practices of creating and using land acknowledgements. The goal is to debunk certain western educational concepts that would attempt to erase or degrade Indigenous land rights and to instead engage with how a land acknowledgement can empower peoples to invest and communicate ongoing Indigenous issues and needs.