Page 28 - APAP - Inside Arts - Summer 2020

The guide, Honor Native Land: A Guide and Call to Acknowledgement,
is essential for organizations planning to conduct land acknowledgements. It is a call to action as organizations consider race, equity, diversity and inclusion (REDI) practices that inevitably lead all of us to the first peoples and caretakers of this land, past and present. The hope is that these acknowledgements forefront deeper dives into
your relationships with Native people in your communities
and that inclusion investigates organizational makeup, programming and real alignment with REDI values. Work for you?
REUBEN ROQUEÑI DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL ARTIST FELLOWSHIPS
NATIVE ARTS AND CULTURES FOUNDATION
HONOR NATIVE LAND: ARE YOU HESITATING?
By The U.S. Department of Arts and Culture
The U.S. Department of
Arts and Culture (USDAC) launched Honor Native
Land: A Guide and Call to Acknowledgment toolkit in 2017, calling on all individuals and organizations to open public events and gatherings with acknowledgment of the traditional Native inhabitants of the land. Compiled with input from Indigenous communities, the initiative sparked the attention of thousands of allies to dive into this practice.
The USDAC is actively working with a team of Indigenous artists, protectors and community members engaged to think about what it means to cultivate this practice of acknowledging. During this moment of global pandemic, we believe it’s more critical than ever to take stock
of the history we’re living in. We believe that it is an important
act to engage in acknowledgement of the land, waters, and air that has long been—and still is— stewarded by Indigenous people. Regardless of whether you are in
a Zoom staff meeting or a Google Hangout webinar, this practice is one which can provide a powerful platform for framing conversations with Indigenous communities at the heart.
I like the idea, but shouldn’t an Indigenous person be the one to offer acknowledgment? I’m not Native American.
Cultural democracy—the USDAC’s animating principle— says we all share responsibility
for a social order of belonging, equity, and justice. If the hard work of confronting and overturning dis-belonging and injustice
is left to those most directly affected, everyone else is shirking this collective responsibility. Acknowledgment isn’t a favor others do for Indigenous people. Just like taking action to stop someone from disrespecting or insulting others on account of their gender, orientation, ethnicity, or religion, acknowledgment is a step toward cultural democracy.
I’m really nervous about making a mistake. What if I mispronounce something? What if I do it wrong?
The act of providing a land acknowledgement is an opportunity for the organizer(s) to consent to learning in public. There are over 574 Indigenous nations in this country and much of American history has made these diverse groups invisible to most people.
It’s only natural to make mistakes, it’s a serious undertaking. What matters is that we stick with it.
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