Living Land Acknowledgement Resource Guide

When the Decolonization & Reciprocity (D&R) Working Group was formed, we accepted the responsibility of writing a living land acknowledgment for our campus community. For us, a land acknowledgement is "living" when it is part of an on-going process of reflection, education, and action. The Living Land Acknowledgement was written collaboratively by members of the working group and the campus community who have engaged in the practice of offering land acknowledgements at campus events over the past few years. We share this as an example of what a living land acknowledgement can be alongside this resource guide. We ask that you engage with resources below and the on-going processes of reflection, education, and action before using or adopting the land acknowledgement below.

Why do we do a land acknowledgement?

Hampshire benefits from the land as a resource at every level — from the physical location of our buildings and the beauty of the landscape, to the facilitation of our outdoor leadership programs, to the farm’s food production for use in the Dining Commons, to its function as a financial asset. Acknowledging the land expresses gratitude to the land itself and reminds us that the land we depend on left Indigenous hands through violent colonization and unjust dispossession. 

The ideals of decolonization and reciprocity in the land acknowledgement are an expression of Hampshire’s mission and vision by encouraging critical inquiry, ethical citizenship, sustainability, and social justice. Through countering the erasure of Native peoples in the United States and by articulating the concrete steps to take towards repair and reciprocity, land acknowledgements remind us that we have obligations as guests on stolen land, both to the land and to its people. The land acknowledgement publicly affirms Hampshire’s commitment to being in good relation with the land that we live and work on, the Indigenous peoples who have called it home since time immemorial, and their living ancestors.

To dive deeper into the purposes and manifestations of land acknowledgements for different audiences, we recommend reading Beyond Territorial Acknowledgements by Chelsea Vowel.

How to deliver a Land Acknowledgement

Acknowledging the land can be a grounding and motivating part of an event or meeting, but can also be counterproductive if done without reflection and consideration. Here are some tips for delivering a land acknowledgement in a respectful and generative way.

1. Reflect on Your Identity: Before giving a land acknowledgement, reflect on your own identity, and on your positionality relative to the land and the history of Indigenous displacement and colonial violence. What has brought you to this land in this place and time? What do you gain from the land? How does your relationship to the land impact the way you are entering the space where the land acknowledgement is being given?
2. Educate Yourself: In order to do this, taking some time to learn more about the land and its people is vital! This includes learning how to pronounce the names of Tribal Nations and place names. Consider learning something that you can contribute to the acknowledgement yourself, which can make acknowledgement a dynamic and evolving practice.
3. Intentional Offering: While the beginning of an event can be a good place for a land acknowledgement, it should not be something to get through in order to start. Instead, consider inviting participants into an introspective moment, using the land acknowledgement to enter into the event with gratitude and motivation in the context of the land’s Indigenous past, present, and future.

Beyond Acknowledgement: Take Action!

Land acknowledgements are a step in the right direction, but are only a symbolic act. Without concrete reparative action, the land acknowledgement exploits Indigenous peoples and their homelands for the social capital of the institution or the individual.

Institutional progress can be slow, so as Hampshire works towards decolonization and reciprocity on a broader level, these are some actions individuals can take towards reparation and right relations with Indigenous peoples and the land.

1. Want to be an ally to Indigenous people but aren't sure what is or isn't respectful? Read the Indigenous Ally Toolkit from the Montreal Indigenous Community Network to get a primer on what allyship should look like.
2. Are you a teacher or professor? Check out these materials for decolonizing your curriculum from Concordia University and these videos on Indigenous life in the Connecticut River Valley for the classroom from the Nolumbeka Project.
3. Are you writing a book? In your acknowledgements, consider acknowledging the land as well.
4. Are you a resident of Massachusetts? Sign up for email updates from the Massachusetts Indigenous Legislative Agenda, which works to support legislation before the Massachusetts State Legislature that benefits Indigenous peoples. You can write your representative, submit testimony for hearings, or show up at the Statehouse to support the agenda at the hearings.
5. Do you want to educate yourself and your community? Check out these resources about local and regional Indigenous history, culture, and presence including the Knowing Nipmuc Series produced by the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band, the Living Presence of Our History series co-produced by Ohketeau Cultural Center and Double Edge Theatre, and the Indigenous Voices Series produced by the Nolumbeka Project.
6. Do you own land in the United States? If so, that’s Indigenous land! Consider land repatriation or payment of a voluntary land tax to your local Indigenous community, like the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band, or to Indigenous people who were removed from your land, like the Stockbridge Munsee, who were removed from nearby Stockbridge, Massachusetts to Wisconsin. To learn more about repatriation and reparations in the context of the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band, watch We Are Still Here, a presentation by Cheryll Toney Holley, Sonksq of the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band, which provides the context the Western Mass SURJ reparations campaign, to which you can contribute here.
7. Are you looking to make a donation? Help fund local Indigenous-led organizations that support Indigenous people like the Ohketeau Cultural Center, No Loose Braids, Pequiog Farm, and the Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust, or find an Indigenous-led organization near you.
8. Want to make your voice heard? Sign the petition to repatriate Lampson Brook Farm in Belchertown to the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band. Lampson Brook Farm is more than 400 acres of land located only a 20 minute drive from Hampshire's campus. Returning the land to Nipmuc hands would support Nipmuc sovereignty, traditional lifeways, and health and well-being.
9. Want to take actions outside of Massachusetts? Follow this guide on moving beyond land acknowledgement from the Native Governance Center, which walks through identifying the resources available to you, researching Indigenous communities and initiatives in your area, and creating a concrete action plan.

These are just some of the many actions you can take to support Indigenous peoples, and we encourage you to look for Indigenous-led initiatives to support wherever you are. The first step is to learn more, and you can start with our further reading below!