The Land We’re On
By Anne den Otter
Land Acknowledgement: A traditional custom in many native communities and nations to pay respect to native land. For non indigenous communities, it is a way to show respect for and honor the indigenous people of the land that we now work and live on.
Read Marinelab’s Land Acknowledgment here
Both on our campus and off, we are grateful for the land we use
What I did not realize on the particular day that my shift notes read “Land Acknowledgement Research” was that I was about to embark on a journey. What initially seemed like a multi-day task has turned into a year-long project. At the start of this journey I was curious. I hadn't ever really heard of a land acknowledgement before. I was also interested in learning about the history of land use in the Florida Keys; not just its modern history, but the history that started long before the Europeans got here in the 1500s. What a lot of people forget is that there were people here for thousands of years before us. My curiosity deepened as I realized how hard it was to pinpoint exactly who was here and how they used the land. There wasn't anyone documenting all of this into a history book. All we have to go off of are artifacts, stories, and some biased accounts from those early European settlers. At this point, I began to feel an obligation to share what I was finding out.
Mangroves have always been an important part of our ecosystem and are considered sacred by the Seminole people
I looked up books that had been written about the early history of the keys, I spoke to a historian who was an expert on the topic, I even planned a staff trip to the local museum that has an exhibit on this. Disappointingly, all of this only painted a very limited picture. I learned that there were many aboriginal cultures living in what we know as South Florida. The Calusa and Tequesta were probably here first, but later on the Seminole and Miccosukee people started to utilize this land too.There were also the Matecumbe living further south in the Keys. But it became very hard to figure whose native land MarineLab was located on. Plus, we take our boats into the Everglades with our students all the time. That was native land once too. How was I supposed to incorporate all of this into one statement?
We often go into the Everglades with our students, a place that was once important native land
What I did find out for sure was that the best way to present a land acknowledgement depends on the situation. Sometimes it can be a statement read out loud, sometimes it can be written, sometimes it can be a member of a local tribe that speaks about the land. The one thing it cannot be, I learned, is a quick task to cover your bases. That defeats the entire purpose. Writing a land acknowledgement requires extensive research, a meaningful way to share this information, and most importantly, an ongoing commitment. It's about what you will do moving forward. It is not directly our fault that our distant ancestors treated indigenous people so terribly BUT we can do our part in changing how they are treated in the future. It was at this point that I finally started to feel some positivity.
As educators, we are able to incorporate change into our daily lives in a meaningful way
`I realized that there is actually a lot we can do to disrupt our unfortunate past. At MarineLab, we have the advantage of being educators. We can spread the word! I have started to incorporate the Seminoles into my mangrove lesson with students. I always point out that one of the many reasons why we should protect the mangroves is because the Seminole people lived among them as they were pushed into the Everglades during the Seminole War. As a result, they view the mangroves as being very sacred and feel deeply impacted by their decline. Even posting our land acknowledgement for every single student that visits Marinelab to see was another step.
Our land acknowledgment statement lives in the volleyball court on our campus so every visiting student can read it
I believe that this will be an ongoing journey. There will always be more to learn and ways to improve. I think that where this leaves me now, is open mindedness. I notice land acknowledgements being done all around me now. And I always try to learn something from each one. Check out a few that I have encountered below!
Land Acknowledgements in pop culture
NPR Fresh Air Podcast “Reservation Dogs Showrunner Sterlin Harjo”
FX/Hulu series “Reservation Dogs”
Netflix Show “Down to Earth” season 2 with Zac Efron
“The Sinner” TV show Season 4, episode 6 “part VI”
“Braiding Sweetgrass” book by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Land Acknowledgement resources
A Guide to Indigenous Land Acknowledgement