Tim Conklin

As a program assistant in my department, I rarely get the opportunity to open an event or conduce a course.  Yet I know awareness need to be raise on my campus about whose land we're on.  So here's what I'm thinking.  Let me know how this flies with you . . .  I'd welcome your feedback and input.

I have a nice office door (it's usually open when I'm in the office).  I'm thinking to put my nicely crafted acknowledgement on my door.  It would be my hope that it will catch people's attention and they'll ask me about it.  I hope that it will provide a springboard for many conversations.

What do y'all think -- does this seem like a way to sort of continue the conversation?

Hello Sybil,

I really like that you said you're a family of wanderers.  My family, too.  When I drafted my own acknowledgement, I used the word settler to describe my ancestors, but somehow this word is not my language.  I wouldn't otherwise use it.  I think I have to change my language about my family to be my own language and not language prescribed by others.  If the use of wanderer works for you, then I think I will use something similar for me.

Seems like we need to balance on the one hand the prescribed language usage vis a vis the language of the speaker.  So I'm going to revise my draft acknowledgement.  The first sentence is the formal, more ritualistic statement using more prescribe language.  The second statement (about me and my family) will be more personalized and use language constructions that reflect me.

Thanks for sharing yours!

Hi Michael,

Indeed, I have wondered about this.  My reason for including it in the first place is to personalize, to attempt to establish a connection with living people (and not just an abstract idea).  Additionally, I use the personal names as a way of avoiding "othering" -- the idea to talking about a group of people with the underlying implication that "they" are somehow fundamentally not "us".

I see this is my own place of worship when we make "prayers of the people".  The person doing the praying may say something like, "We pray for the people of the DTSE (Downtown East Side) that they may find healing . . . and etc."  One could almost hear the words not being said, "I'm so glad I'm not like those people."  We can make subtle changes to our word and language use to avoid making unnecessary distinctions between "me" and "you"/"we" and "they"/"us" and "them".

On the other hand Michael, I simply got the chiefs' names from the bands' websites.  If the bank elects a new chief and I do not become aware of it.  How would that be if I made a public acknowledgement and didn't mention the current chief?  That wouldn't be good.

So, this is just something I'm trying out in draft form.  I may indeed take your advice and drop the personal names.

My Corporate Territorial Acknowledgement

Vancouver Community College – We [I] would like to begin by acknowledging that we are on the traditional and unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples, the traditional territories of the Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.

— Acknowledgement provided by the Vancouver Community College, Office VP Academic & Research.  Guide to Acknowledging First Peoples & Traditional Territory.  Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT)  https://www.caut.ca/.

My Personal Territorial Acknowledgement

I acknowledge that I am on the traditional and unceded territory of coast salish peoples, and I wish to offer my greeting to Chief Wayne and the people of Musqueam, Chief Leah and the people of Tsleil-Waututh, and the hereditary chiefs and the elders of the Squamish First Nations as a sign of respect and as a signal of my hope that we are now on a path toward a better future of fellowship and reconciliation together.

As for myself, I am born on the prairie lands of the Dakota Sioux peoples, and I and my parents are descended from settlers from England, Norway and Sweden.  It has been my privilege to have been nurtured by these people and the lands that supported them.

Hello Everyone!

I'm Tim, and I'm the Department Assistant in CAD & BIM Technologies (aka Drafting) at Vancouver Community College downtown.

Reading the 4 R's article made me think of ways I can relate to the experience of First Nations students at my institution.  I'm a border-crosser.  I left my upper-Midwest American culture and took on a West Coast one when I immigrated to Canada.  I do a certain amount of cultural adaptation every time I visit my family back in Minnesota.  Here's a funny example of what I mean:  Back in the States I grew up among Lutherans (a kind of mainline protestant Christians) of Scandinavian ancestry.  When I came to Vancouver, I could hardly find a Lutheran church anywhere, so because it was just across the street from where I lived, I ended up settling into an Anglican church community of folks with English heritage.  So, when I'm in Minnesota, I'm Lutheran -- when I'm in Canada, I'm Anglican.

I'm guessing many of us live with our feet planted in more than one community.

I sure look forward to learning with everybody this week!

Kindest regards  -- Tim Conklin