Land Acknowledgement & Commitment to Action

The Board of Trustees of Winnipeg School Division have recently updated and declared the official wording of the following land acknowledgement and commitment to action be read at the beginning each school day:

“The students, staff, and communities of Winnipeg School Division are committed to truth and reconciliation through building relationships with Mother Earth, the original peoples of this land, and the stories that bring us together. We acknowledge the place in which we gather is on Treaty 1 territory, the homeland of the Red River Métis, and the ancestral lands of the Anishinaabe, Ininiwak, and Dakota Oyate peoples.”

“Les élèves, le personnel et les communautés de la division scolaire Winnipeg s’engagent à la vérité et la réconciliation en établissant des relations avec la Mère Terre, avec les premiers peuples de ce territoire et avec les histoires qui nous réunissent. Nous reconnaissons que l’endroit où nous nous sommes rassemblés se situe sur le territoire visé par le traité numéro 1, la patrie des Métis de la rivière Rouge et sur les territoires traditionnels des peuples Anishinaabe, Ininiwak, et Dakota Oyate.”

Why do we acknowledge the land?

Acknowledging the land is Indigenous protocol and is an expression of gratitude and appreciation to those whose territory you reside on. The intent of this statement is to begin with acknowledgement, to provoke learning, and to work towards building relationships and reconciliation through a commitment to action.