Canadians don’t fully understand land acknowledgements: poll
OTTAWA — A new poll shows that while Canadians want politicians to acknowledge the Indigenous history of the land they’re standing on, they don’t think it applies to their own land.
Indigenous land acknowledgments in which speakers, usually politicians, mention the Indigenous history of the land they are speaking on have become common in recent years. As an example, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau often mentions when he is speaking from Ottawa that he is sitting on unceded Algonquin territory.
A new poll done by the Association for Canadian Studies, a not-for-profit focused on increasing Canadians’ understanding of our past, found that most people appreciate the statements coming from their political leaders.
In the poll, 50 per cent of respondents said they either strongly or somewhat agree that politicians should regularly make a land acknowledgement, in contrast to 34 per cent who disagree and 17 per cent who don’t know.
Support for the statements was generally highest among younger people, with 67 per
cent of people in the age group agreeing with it.
Despite the support for having politicians say it, when asked if they personally are living on unceded Indigenous territory, only 25 per cent of people agreed.
Jack Jedwab, president of the association, said it shows there is work for people to do in understanding what the acknowledgements actually mean.
“People feel it’s okay for governments to make that acknowledgement, but a lot of people simply don’t feel that they’re not on their own territory, so to speak,” he said.
Jedwab said he believes many people interpret that as saying they don’t own their land, rather than simply acknowledging the history behind it. He said there is a need for more education on what land acknowledgments really mean.
“Optimally, the idea is to give meaning to these land acknowledgments. We don’t want them to be gratuitous land acknowledgments, we want people to understand what they are about,” he said.
Unceded Indigenous territory generally refers to lands that were controlled by Indigenous communities before French and British settlers arrived. Courts have since recognized those claims, and land claim settlements have been underway with Indigenous communities to compensate communities for the land.
Mostly in Western Canada, Indigenous communities entered into treaties with the Canadian government of the time. Land acknowledgments in the Prairies generally mention those treaties, which were often not fulfilled.
The government is engaged in negotiations over land claims with Indigenous communities across the country. Jedwab said these views could be a political barrier to those negotiations, but generally he believes Canadians just need to better understand the process.
“My conclusion from all this, is there’s more education and more understanding that’s required,” he said.
The poll used an online panel and reached out to 1,539 respondents between June 4-6.