Being compelled to issue a land acknowledgement-- rate my response
At a recent meeting, I was asked to deliver a land acknowledgment and was informed that doing so was compulsory. I have concerns about compelled speech and freedom of expression, which I intend to address separately at a later time. In response to the request, I prepared the following statement: "We acknowledge that the Coquitlam area has long been home to Coast Salish peoples, including kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem First Nation), the primary nation of the Coquitlam River watershed, from which the city derives its name meaning “Red Fish up the River.” The region also has longstanding ties to neighbouring nations including səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation), the “People of the Inlet,” and q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie First Nation), whose ancestral connections extend through the Pitt River and surrounding areas."
Like much of British Columbia, questions surrounding Indigenous rights, title, and territorial boundaries remain part of ongoing legal, treaty, and inter-nation discussions within Canada’s constitutional framework".
In all honesty I have a problem with land acknowledgments as they grossly oversimplify the issues going on, and generally I feel are disingenuous while undermining Canada and the institutions they are coming from. How did I do?
