Reconciling Relationships with the Land through Land Acknowledgements

One of the limitations of conventional Canadian conceptions of reconciliation is the underlying assumption that reconciliation applies, virtually exclusively, to relationships among peoples. There are, however, other dimensions to reconciliation that are equally important from an Indigenous point of view. As Mi’kmaq Elder Augustine suggests, “other dimensions of human experience—our relationships with the earth and all living beings—are also relevant in working towards reconciliation” (TRC 2015a, 122). Indigenous conceptions of reconciliation extend beyond people to the natural world and are informed by direct relationships to the Land. In this chapter. an Anishinaabe scholar, living in her own Lands, and a settler planner, moving across the Land, further explain how Land, Spirit and, more fundamentally, relationships have endured through time and can offer profound insights if one can learn to relate to the People and Land. This relation is explored through an examination of the Land Acknowledgement