Land
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
Land acknowledgments in the early 2000s were often written in this style.
What is scripted, formal, institutional, the same every time?
Who is Thomas King?
Who is Duke Redbird?
Before it became a Vancouver neighbourhood, Marpole was once this important Musqueam location.
What is a village and/or a burial site?
The name of this famous vampire from Romanian folklore translates to "son of the dragon."
Who is Dracula (or Vlad the Impaler)?
The place this land acknowledgement comes from:
We are honoured to live, work, and play on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations
What are the Canucks?
This character is the museum director who tries to remove the totem pole
Who is Walter Hooton?
The poem uses this device when it refers to the Earth as "The Mother of us all."
This Vancouver street was renamed from Trutch Street in 2022 to honour Indigenous history.
What is Musqueam View?
In the series Stranger Things, this monster comes from the Upside Down.
What is the demogorgon?
Land acknowledgements changed after this commission in 2015.
What is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission?
In the story, the totem pole itself symbolizes the continuous struggles, resilience, and perseverance of these people in Canada.
Who are the Indigenous people?
This is the central line of the poem (it's repeated a few times).
What is "the spirit of the people is equal to the power of the land"?
Before it was called Stanley Park, this place was known by this Squamish village name.
What is X̱wáýx̱way?
In the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas, this character is known as the "Pumpkin King."
Who is Jack Skellington?
After the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2015), acknowledgements shifted toward this kind of expression.
What is personal and reflective?
This is what Walter and his staff decide to do with the final, singing totem pole in the exhibition.
What is ignore it?
Mother Earth buries these things "in every creature," whether "large or small."
What are "gems of wisdom"?
The meaning of the word xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam)
What is "place of the river grass grows"?
This flying mammal, associated with vampires, is the only one that can truly fly.
What is a bat?
Land acknowledgements have been criticized because they lack this.
What is understanding, reflection, action, or follow-through?
This receptionist is the first character in the story to complain about the mysterious noise made by the totem pole.
Who is Beebe Hill?
When Redbird says Mother Earth "plants the knowledge of the Power of the Land" in every grain of sand, he is using this figurative language.
When settlers renamed Indigenous places, this was often lost.
What is the history, language, and relationship embedded in the original name?
Before pumpkins, people in Ireland and Scotland originally carved scary faces into these two root vegetables.
What are turnips and potatoes?