Editor's Postlude: Acknowledging People or Land
“As we begin this jamboree, I acknowledge the Butchulla people as the Traditional people of this area.” I was attending the Australian National Scout Jamboree in January 2025 as part of the Scouts Canada contingent. With similar words, each of the speakers at the opening ceremony began their welcome to the jamboree site near Maryborough, Queensland.
What struck me was that the emphasis was on the people first. In Canada, when an acknowledgement is given, often the treaty is mentioned first or a statement that there are no treaties for the area. The emphasis on people first in the Australian acknowledgements may come from the fact that there are no treaties, to date, between Indigenous Peoples and the government of Australia. Interestingly, the Aboriginal people of Australia and the Torres Strait Islander people sometimes look to Canada as a model for what they wish to achieve.*
A common acknowledgement that I heard or saw posted in Queensland goes something like this:
“We acknowledge the Butchulla people as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this area of Australia. We pay respect to the Butchulla Elders past, present, and emerging. We recognize, celebrate and respect the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people as the First Australians. And we acknowledge their unique cultural and spiritual connection to the land, waterways, sea, and sky.”
Often, we were also reminded of the three ancient and enduring laws that shape Butchulla lives: What is good for the land comes first. Do not take or touch anything that does not belong to you. If you have plenty, you must share.
It is necessary to be reminded that we, non- Indigenous Settlers to this land we call Canada, are responsible to the treaties. I understand that the land and Indigenous Peoples are indelibly connected, and that the taking away and restricting of territory was devastating and destructive to them. Yet I wonder about placing the emphasis first on the First Peoples.
I was drawn to the line “We pay respect to the Elders past, present, and emerging.” What would it be like to be reminded over and over again of respect for the wisdom of Elders, past, present, and emerging? Would it encourage us, whatever culture we are rooted in, to turn to the enduring wisdom of Elders rather than the latest meme or social media post?
The danger with the habitual declaration of acknowledgements of territory at the beginning of worship, meetings, or arts performances is that they can become just that, habitual. It can become just another box to tick. Or we soften the acknowledgement with words such as “we are grateful for the hospitality of Indigenous people,” when the reality was that First Peoples were forced into this “hospitality.” Land acknowledgements, at their best, keep before us the responsibility and obligation we have as Settlers to recognize the past history of harm and live a path toward reconciliation.
Listening to an acknowledgment in another country stirred me from any complacency I may have been sinking into. I’ve heard some people declare that they won’t offer land acknowledgements because they are just tokenism, rather than a real step toward reconciliation. I would disagree. Those of us who are Settlers need to have before us regular reminders of the work we need to do toward reconciliation.
Some may ask why we have an acknowledgement of territory in a worship service. We include them because the church, our church, was complicit in the system of residential institutions and the plan to destroy Indigenous culture, faith, language, and people.
But the reminder to me, as I listened at the opening of the jamboree in Queensland, was that we need to find ways to keep the acknowledgements fresh and honest. Maybe one way is to think of acknowledging the First Peoples first, and the Elders past, present, and emerging.
Susan Lukey, Editor
*Refer to the work of Dr. Kiera Ladner, professor at the University of Manitoba and Canada Research Chair in Miyo-we'citowin, Indigenous Governance and Digital Sovereignties, who works in advancing transformative reconciliation in Canada as well as providing support to Indigenous Peoples in various parts of the world, including Australia.
