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?

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