Crafting a Meaningful Land Acknowledgement: The Why and the How 

with Rhonda Kronyk

When: Saturday, January 27, 2024, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm PST

Where: Online via Zoom

Since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report was released in 2015, land acknowledgements have become an integral part of many events, websites, and email signatures in Canada. But some people question their value. Are these acknowledgements simply “woke” culture getting out of hand? Are they performative exercises? Or can they be meaningful statements about the lands we call home and the roles Indigenous Peoples have played in stewarding these lands for millennia? This three-hour interactive seminar will give participants the information they need to ensure that their land acknowledgements are sincere.

To guide participants, Rhonda will briefly explain the history and issues related to using land acknowledgements. Using real-life examples, she will show how to research region-specific acknowledgements, what to include, and what to avoid.

Two weeks prior to the seminar, Rhonda will send registered participants a set of questions they can use to draft an acknowledgement prior to the session. Participants are encouraged to submit their draft to Rhonda one week before the event. As time allows, some acknowledgements will be workshopped anonymously during the seminar to help participants understand what to look for in their own work. Participants will then refine their draft during short working sessions

Participants will leave the seminar with a draft of a land acknowledgement that goes beyond those we see and hear. Their personal acknowledgement will not be an empty exercise but will reflect their values and reasons for creating a meaningful statement.

This seminar will be recorded.

Rhonda Kronyk is a settler/Dene research, writing, and editing consultant. A member of the Tsay Keh Dene Nation (Treaty 8), she calls amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) in Treaty 6 home. A founding member of the Indigenous Editors Association, Rhonda provides workshops for publishers and university publishing programs on how to publish culturally respectful stories by and about Indigenous Peoples. She has worked on manuscripts by some of Canada’s best known Indigenous authors.

As passionate as Rhonda is about her work, she steps away from it occasionally to make time for gardening, art, photography, reading, and participating in Edmonton’s incredible array of literary events. Fun fact: before opening her editing business in 2013, Rhonda worked in residential construction doing everything from framing to finishing to cabinet building.