I prepared the following land acknowledgement for a presentation on the Erie Canal. I would appreciate your comments and suggestions.
While I celebrate the Erie Canal, honor its builders, and appreciate its positive impacts, I acknowledge that the Erie Canal is located on the homelands of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy—the participatory democracy that predates and served as a model for the United States of America—the lands of the indigenous people of the Mohawk, Oneida, Tuscarora, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca nations. I acknowledge the Erie Canal's role in the devastation of their ways of living and their restriction to limited or other lands; negative effects that linger to this day. Further, I acknowledge the negative impacts of the Erie Canal as it fostered the westward travel of European settlers into the lands of the indigenous peoples who made their homes in what are now the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. As we move forward, I advocate the application the Haudenosaunee “Seventh Generation” value: in every decision we make, we consider the impact on the next seven generations. Only by listening to Haudenosaunee and other indigenous peoples will we heal the past and create a more viable future based on respect for all living beings.
~ Sandy Schuman
Thank you, this is valuable information. I think most people forgot who was here before we were.
ReplyDeleteif we acknowledge this, then we will have to acknowledge the devastation caused by the Iroquois to those indigenous peoples who preceded them on the land and in commerce. There are no mythical people...only people !
ReplyDeleteWhile the Haudenosaunee may have caused devastation to the Indigenous Peoples that preceded them, that history is largely unknown. Moreover, the purpose of a land acknowledgment is not to provide a history of the land, but to acknowledge the people who previously occupied it. We could acknowledge that this area was the homeland of the Haudenosaunee *and the Indigenous Peoples that preceded them.* Would that satisfy your concern?
Delete