The University of Lethbridge is officially adopting territorial acknowledgement statements.
They’ll become part of the U of L’s official Indigenous Protocol Handbook and will be used at the onset of major ceremonies and events as well as other occasions.
While the university has been using statements of recognition for some time now, there wasn’t a specific protocol that guided when they should be used and what specifically should be said.
The newly-created statements have been approved by local Blackfoot elders and the Blackfoot Confederacy.
An example of the short statement is as follows:
Oki, and welcome to the University of Lethbridge. Our University’s Blackfoot name is Iniskim, meaning Sacred Buffalo Stone. The University is located in traditional Blackfoot Confederacy territory. We honour the Blackfoot people and their traditional ways of knowing in caring for this land, as well as all Aboriginal peoples who have helped shape and continue to strengthen our University community.
