Whose Land? www.whose.land
3. What did Ariana include in her land acknowledgment?
4. Why are land acknowledgements important?
Teachers may want to show more examples of land acknowledgement videos from the
website to ensure that students grasp what a land acknowledgement is (acknowledging the
Indigenous nation(s) who lived on this land since time immemorial while saying what we love
about the land and how we benefit from it).
Ongoing Assessment: Ensure the class understands the concepts by asking comprehension
questions throughout the activity.
PART 3: WHOLE CLASS LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT (20-30 MINUTES)
Big Idea: Using language to demonstrate respect and further reconciliation
Review and summarize student learning from Part 2.
Once students understand what a land acknowledgement is, inform them that you will, all
together, create a classroom land acknowledgement.
Ask students what they think should be included in the classroom land acknowledgement
based on the examples they viewed.
Your classroom land acknowledgement should include the following information:
• The name of the Indigenous nation(s) whose traditional territory the classroom is on
• What students love about this land (hint: have them think about what they love about
their special places that are on this land)
• How they benefit from this land (hint: we benefit from buildings on the land such as
schools, houses, hospitals, etc… plus we benefit from the land, water, sky, animals to
provide us with live sustaining food, water and materials)
• Plus anything extra that students suggested to make this land acknowledgment mean-
ingful and personal. As an example, you might want to prompt students to think about
how they can commit to taking care of the land or how they can honour the treaties, if
applicable to your region.
Together as a class, go through each part of a land acknowledgement and have students
collaborate on what they think should be included. Write down their ideas using chart paper,
continuously editing/adding/changing until it reads just right!
Ongoing Assessment: Throughout this activity, pose questions to students to guide them
through the writing process. Finally, model the revision and editing process with them.
OPTIONAL MENTOR TEXTS
You may find these books helpful complements to these activities, providing students with
additional context related to this learning.
• Nibi's Water Song
• Spirit Bear and Children Make History
• Spirit Bear Honouring Memories and Planting Dreams
• Siha Tooskin Knows Series
• Stand Like A Cedar
• This Land is My Land
• Treaty Words
• We are Water Protectors
• Wolf Island
