Nationwide, this formal nod to native peoples replaces Pledge of Allegiance at meetings, sporting events

By Paul Bean

At the start of their public meetings, the Vermont Truth and Reconciliations Commission recites the “Land Acknowledgement” to honor native peoples, human life, and “mother earth.”

The “Land Acknowledgment” reads:

“First, we must acknowledge that Vermont is part of the homeland of the Mohican people and the Alnobak, the Western Abenaki people. We are all part of the circle of creation and the health of our human communities has an impact on all our relations, human and non- human.

We want to take this moment to recognize the land itself, Mother Earth, and the many blessings that we are given. We hope you will take the time to think about your relationship to place and what land means to you.”

Last week, VDC covered a story on the potential expansion of the  VTRC staff, which included a quote from their available public minutes. It was pointed out to VDC by a reader they had linked a “Land Acknowledgement” and that it was read in the beginning of the meeting, similar to how the “pledge of allegiance” is recited at similar kinds of meetings.

Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian defines on their website a “Land acknowledgment” as a “traditional custom that dates back centuries in many Native nations and communities. Today, land acknowledgments are used by Native Peoples and non-Natives to recognize Indigenous Peoples who are the original stewards of the lands on which we now live.”

Land Acknowledgments come in many different forms depending on the land itself, who lived there, what they might have believed, and the modern drafters’ ideology. The Smithsonian website says they depend on local indigenous communities that were “forcibly removed” from the area. Similar to the national Anthem or the Pledge of Allegiance, “Land acknowledgments can be spoken at the beginning of public and private gatherings, from school programs and sporting events to town halls.”

A National Public Radio news segment from 2023 noted that Land Acknowledgements are becoming popular at the beginning of local government meetings and sporting events: “Land acknowledgments have become increasingly common nationwide over the past few years. Many mainstream public events — from soccer games and performing arts productions to city council meetings and corporate conferences — begin with these formal statements recognizing Indigenous communities’ rights to territories seized by colonial powers.”

A quick Google search shows that many Vermont organizations – including the Vermont College of Fine Arts, the Peace and Justice Center and the University of Vermont – have an official Land Acknowledgement. Some are longer and more ‘political’ than others – for example, the Peace and Justice Center urges people to make a circle and recite (or have read to them):

We recognize we are on the unceded homeland of many Indigenous people of what is now known as North America. We honor and give thanks to the Abenaki who have and continue to steward this land known as Vermont, the space in which we reside and practice this work. The Abenaki continue to maintain their beliefs and customs despite the forced removal from their land. Despite centuries of colonial theft and violence, this is still Indigenous land. It will always be Indigenous land. Indigenous people are not relics of the past. They are still here, and they continue to demonstrate their talents and gifts amidst a backdrop of ongoing colonialism and oppression. Today we celebrate their continued contributions.

We recognize the many Indigenous people from other Native nations who also reside in Vermont and have made innumerable contributions to our region and continue to steward this land also.

We honor the legacy of the African diaspora and the Black lives, knowledge, skills, and labor stolen due to violence and the evolution of white supremacy culture. We acknowledge that much of this country’s essential structures would not exist if it wasn’t for the free, enslaved labor of Black people, and that many people of African descent are still being met with violence and killed today for simply existing. We honor the legacy of the many other BIPOC ancestors who were victims of the same.

As the current stewards of this space, it is our collective responsibility to hold these truths of these contributions and losses. Our work together is about disrupting and dismantling the oppressive systems deeply interconnected with historical and current violent colonial structures. We acknowledge these systems of oppression impact our lives by creating a hierarchy around whose voice, experience, and perspective is centered and uplifted. We believe it is essential in all the work we do to recognize whose shoulders we are standing on, and whose legacy we are fulfilling, to work together to dismantle this hierarchy and uplift the voices of those who these systems were made to oppress.