Happy Indigenous People’s Day!

13 Oct Happy Indigenous People’s Day!

13 October 2026

By David Allen, Development for Conservation

Take a fresh look at your Land Acknowledgement this week.

Though I confess to not thinking about it very often, it has always seemed a little off to me to name pieces of land after people whose influence over it has been measured in decades instead of millennia. So, when I first learned of Indigenous People’s Day as an alternative to Columbus Day, it only made good sense.

According to Wikipedia, at least 14 states do not celebrate Columbus Day at all (Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin), as well as Washington, DC. Alabama, Montana, Nebraska, Rhode Island, and South Dakota celebrate both Indigenous People’s Day and Columbus Day. Columbus Day is still, of course, a federal holiday.

Whatever we can do to raise awareness that the human population of our continent dates back far more than 500 years, and that it wasn’t “discovered” in 1492, is worthwhile. Like seeing the planet for the first time from space (the Blue Marble) changes our perspective, so does seeing human history on a timeline going back 10,000 years.

And changing perspective is a good thing.

The place it hits home for me is naming rights. Someone donates their land to the land trust. Should it forever-after be named for them?

Someone donates $500,000 to help the conservancy buy a piece of land. Should it forever-after be named for them?

In many cases, these pieces of land already have native significance – and native names. Perhaps we can find a way to recognize donors without ignoring the Native American history.

And that brings me to Land Acknowledgements. Many land trusts, as well as the Land Trust Alliance, have incorporated land acknowledgements into their events and celebrations. Some of them are well done. Some come across as hollow and not authentic. How can we do better?

My biggest complaint over all is that they are read. Not memorized, not internalized, not “felt.” Read performatively by white people to white people.

Don’t get me wrong here. Land Acknowledgements SHOULD be written, with each word and phrase carefully considered. And the land acknowledgements should be easily found on your websites. But they will land more sincerely if they are spoken without being read.

How can we do better?

I’m open to suggestions.

For what it’s worth, here are a couple that I like:

Bear Yuba Land Trust – We acknowledge that the lands we serve are the ancestral homelands of the Nisenan and many other Tribes, whose land is unceded and who were nearly exterminated by colonization. We support tribal priorities, including returning land to tribal families and communities, consistent with our mission to preserve the natural, scenic, and cultural resources of these lands.

The Land Conservancy of New Jersey – We are deeply humbled to occupy the land of the native Munsee Lenape. The Land Conservancy of New Jersey acknowledges Indigenous Peoples as the traditional stewards of the land, and the enduring relationship that exists between them and their traditional territories. The land on which our headquarters sit is the traditional unceded territory of the Munsee Lenape Nation. We also work to preserve land in the traditional territories of the Lenape Haki-nk (Lenni-Lenape) and the Ramapough Lenape Nation.

Hope you had a good three-day weekend!

Cheers, and have a great week.

-da

PS: Your comments on these posts are welcomed and warmly requested. If you have not posted a comment before, or if you are using a new email address, please know that there may be a delay in seeing your posted comment. That’s my SPAM defense at work. I approve all comments as soon as I am able during the day.

Photo by PLymouthDriver courtesy of Pixabay.