LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT PRACTICE RESOURCES
Last Updated 11/8/2024
Dance/NYC believes the dance ecology must itself be just, equitable, and inclusive to meaningfully contribute to social progress and envisions a dance ecology wherein power, funding, opportunities, conduct, and impacts are fair for all artists, cultural workers, and audiences. To that end and as articulated in our Racial Justice Agenda, Dance/NYC seeks to dismantle white supremacy in dance and amplify the voices and autonomy of the African, Latina/o/x, Asian, Arab, and Native American (ALAANA) community. Dance/NYC acknowledges that the terms enclosed within the acronym ALAANA are not necessarily those that best represent these communities. The language we use across our justice, equity and inclusion initiatives is currently under organizational review.
As a way of deepening our work and learning in racial justice, we regularly practice Land Acknowledgements at meetings and public convenings to recognize our country’s violent history and its legacy in the space we occupy. This practice is currently under development with the guidance of Indigenous dance artist and activist Emily Johnson and more recently River Whittle to ensure that we embody this allyship. This includes taking actionable steps towards reparations in this initial instance by nurturing relationships with local Indigenous and First Nations artists and organizations, and making pathways for Lënape artists and leaders to return to Lenapehoking, today.
As a service organization, Dance/NYC often gets requests from artists and colleague arts organizations to share our Land Acknowledgement “language” and/or “protocols.” At this time, these are materials we typically do not publicly share in written form. We encourage the members of our community, our colleague organizations and friends to begin their own practice of land acknowledgement.
Dance/NYC has compiled this page of resources in collaboration with Emily Johnson that includes additional First Nations and Indigenous artists and scholars leading this work. We encourage all processes of Land Acknowledgement to include the development of intentional relationship and accountability with a First Nations artist and/or organization that includes compensation for ongoing work; a direct offer of reparations to Indigenous and First Nations artists in Lënapehóking; and a clear articulation of measurable actions and ongoing commitments for the future.
You can join us in supporting Lenni Lenapexkweyok—a group of Lenape matriarchs from five of the federally recognized Lenape tribes who are working to increase Lenape presence in Lenape land—both immediately and long term.
You can find more resources around land acknowledgement practices and Indigenous racial justice in our Dance. Workforce. Resilience. Resource Library.
Resources
A Guide and Call to Acknowledgment
Find your native land and learn more about territory acknowledgment
Honor Native Land through the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture
Guide to Indigenous Land and Territorial Acknowledgments for Cultural Institutions
Decolonization is not a Metaphor by Tuck, Eve and K.W Yang; 2012
Reclaiming Native Truth Research Findings
Beyond Territorial Acknowledgments
Catalyst Dance Decolonization Rider
Praxis Sessions for Virtual Collaboration: Land Acknowledgements hosted by Unsettling Dramaturgy: Crip & Indigenous Dramaturgies
Stanford Live land acknowledgment video and resources
Howlround Instigating Institutional Change Towards Decolonization
'Tourists' In Our Own Homeland - The Lenape people were driven out of our homeland in the northeast U.S. Here's what it was like to go back.
Lenni Lenapexkweyok's Educational Resources
To find out whose lands you are on, text your zip code or city and state (separated by a comma) to (907) 312-5085 and a bot responds with the names of the Native lands that correspond to that region. The service currently only works for US residents, but may be available for other countries in the future. Please note, this is a useful tool to gather information but is not a replacement for building a meaningful relationship to the original stewards of the lands you occupy.
Advisors & Agencies
Felicia Garcia, Samala Chumash
Contact: landacknowledgement@gmail.com / feliciarenee00@gmail.com
Melissa Shaginoff, Ahtna/Paiute; Udzisyu (caribou) and Cui Ui Ticutta (fish-eater) clans from Nay’dini’aa Na Kayax (Chickaloon Village)
Contact: mshaginoff@gmail.com
Indigenous Direction
Contact: indigenousdirection@gmail.com
Indigenous-Led Organizations in Lënapehóking (NYC)
Lenape Center is committed to resisting the erasure of the Lenape people in their ancestral homeland of NYC through efforts to preserve, promote, and create Lenape arts, culture, and language (Unami).
Amerinda aims to promote the indigenous perspective in the arts to a broad audience through the creation of new work in contemporary art forms—visual, performing, literary and media.
Redhawk Native American Arts Council is a not for profit organization dedicated to educating the general public about Native American heritage through song, dance, theater, works of art and other cultural forms of expression.
American Indian Community House (AICH) was founded in 1969, by Native American volunteers as a community-based organization, mandated to improve the status of Native Americans, and to foster intercultural understanding.
Lenni Lenapexkweyok is an organization of Lenape matriarchs from the 5 Lenape tribes in the lands currently known as Canada and the United States. Their goal is to increase Lenape peoples' presence in their homelands, having been violently displaced hundreds and even thousands of miles away.
Research on Colonial Structures in Language
A Copy Editor’s Education in Indigenous Style
Indigenous Peoples Terminology Guidelines for Usage
Indigenous Inclusive Language (Australia)
Dance/NYC seeks to facilitate the sharing of information and resources to the community during this moment. Dance/NYC bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external sites. Please contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.
