Land acknowledgement

[mattwynne]

I think we need something about this somewhere, but as @tillkruss pointed out it doesn't really fit in the CoC.

So this ticket is a placeholder so we don't forget to put it somewhere.

Ref #3

[mattwynne]

Here's what I had previously drafted into the CoC:

The city of Nelson exists on the traditional unceeded territory territories of the Sinixt, the Syilx, and the Ktunaxa peoples, and is home to many diverse indigenous persons including the Metis. We are grateful to be able to live in this wonderful place, and to have the opportunity to provide this service to the people here.

[mattwynne]

Other examples:

We would like to acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the traditional territory of the Sinixt, the Ktunaxa, and the Syilx peoples, and is home to the Métis and many diverse Indigenous persons. We honour their connection to the land and rivers and respect the importance of the environment to our strength as a community.

(from https://nelson.bc.libraries.coop/research/explore-your-topic/indigenous-peoples/)

[ShaneK77]

This is a great start, thanks for taking the initiative.

Regarding land acknowledgement, it seems like taking direction from the local (autonomous) Sinixt people would be wise. They have an example of a land acknowledgement for virtual spaces here: https://bloodoflifecollective.org/sinixt.html and I've made very slight modifications to change "I" -> "We" below.

"We would like to acknowledge that I live and work on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of Sinixt Peoples. We make this acknowledgment to show my respect for the tmxʷulaʔxʷ (homeland), and Sinixt Nation. We are privileged and grateful to be here, and I invite those reading this to explore their own relationship to place."

As for naming other First Nations and Metis peoples we can look to the recent modifications that the Arrow Lakes School board undertook with regard to their land acknowledgement: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/04/08/sd-10-changes-land-acknowledgement-to-reflect-the-truth-of-sinixt.html

WRT where in the document it fits, I'd suggest that it should be at the head of the document and be framed in a way that we expect all those who make use of the instance to affirm it when signing up.

[mattwynne]

Great, thanks for the advice @ShaneK77!

I've added it so it should appear as it's own heading between the "About nelson.social" and "Code of conduct" headings on the left-nav of the about/more page.

We'll add it to the server rules too as you suggest #8.

[brianlye80]

Here is one more option that we spent a lot of time on as board members at oxygen art center:

Oxygen Art Centre acknowledges with gratitude that we are located on the tum xula7xw/ traditional territory of the sn̓ʕay̓ckstx/the Sinixt People. As uninvited guests we honour their ongoing presence on this land. We recognize that the Sinixt Arrow Lakes, Sylix, Ktuxana, and Yaqan Nukij Lower Kootenay Band peoples are also connected with this land, as are Métis and many diverse Indigenous persons.

[mattwynne]

With the new server rules live (see https://nelson.social/about/more) I'm calling this done.

[mattwynne]

Feedback from my neighbour, who has lived in Nelson a long time and whose political acumen I respect:

Regarding the new Nelson community group you are setting up, it's a great idea and could well turn out to be not only useful but fun too.

My only concern is the statement that this land is the unceded territory of the Sinixt.

There are, in fact, three First Nations who have unresolved claims over this land. The other two are the Ktunaxa and the Siylx.

Your statement could appear to be political, in the sense that you appear to agree with one of the three claimants. The convention until now has been to note all three claimants and it is likely to continue that way until the claims are settled and treaties are signed.

Until then, you and I will continue to be the tenants who moved in and have never paid rent.

This lines up with your suggestion @brianlye80. What are your thoughts on this @ShaneK77?

[mattwynne]

At Cover, they use this one, which was well researched and I believe has been vetted by local indigenous leaders:

We at Cover Architecture respectfully acknowledge the Ktunaxa Nation, Sinixt Nation, and Syilx Peoples, and recognize their underlying title to the unceded lands where we live and work.

I think this one looks good!

[tillkruss]

Can you open a PR with the needed change?

[mattwynne]

Can you open a PR with the needed change?

Done!

[blaine]

So, I think we shouldn't go ahead with the changes in the PR; I appreciate your neighbor's perspective, but I think @ShaneK77 and @brianlye80 shared some important context that maybe your neighbor isn't aware of?

Specifically, I think the Oxygen statement that @brianlye80 shared includes important context that the new proposed statement erases (specifically around the Sinixt tum xula7xw). It also prioritizes the Sinixt people who were the primary inhabitants of the land and were declared extinct/erased for explicitly political goals, while recognizing the diversity that was also present in the region. I also think that the SD10 article that @ShaneK77 shared is important context re the question of wider acknowledgement.

For my part, I feel it is an important political statement to prioritize acknowledging the sinixt, and in particular the blood of life collective. The provincial government refuses to meaningfully acknowledge or engage with local Sinixt people, because doing so would/could negatively impact some (imho) exploitative local businesses.

I'm not too worried about this, because ultimately I think it's something we might broach with the wider community in a more accessible context (once there's a wider community 😅). In the meantime, I'd err on the side of revolutionary whenever possible. 😂

[blaine]

@mattwynne not sure if you saw my comments from before?

[mattwynne]

Ah shit I didn't sorry Blaine.

[blaine]

Ah shit I didn't sorry Blaine.

No worries! 😅 I hear on the grapevine that there are a bunch of better tools than GitHub for this sort of thing that are being built, hopefully usable in the near future! I find it really difficult to track this sort of thing I'm GitHub issues, meant to bring it up in person. 😊