Indigenous Land Acknowledgement & Who We Are

A living document co-created by interspecies contributors

FOREWORD CO-CREATED:
We speak these words as a unified voice in prayer each time we come together in group, in circle, with each other - Earth, Land, Plants, Place, Star Beings…to remember. Collectively and effectively remember we are decoding from the dominant narrative. We, a living prayer. We, an expression of words that reach all. We are these words in service to each other. That collectively evolve and grow as we come to know we are a web-like matrix with Earth. Extension beings of our Mother. Inter-star beings, sprouted and whole. A part of each other's parts. The seen and unseen elements of embodied and un-embodied forces. Yet unified and quantum. Effectively holographic. We are the landscape mycelial field of unbroken song.

We recite and remember with responsible reverence and respect, in reciprocal relationship….

As we gather here with our Ancestors, we remember with humility and gratitude the privilege we have to be able to stop and be here when others cannot related to their abilities, finances, social, continental and intersectional disruption or states of warring.

And we respectfully acknowledge that we are on the sacred homelands of the indigenous peoples of Turtle Island (in E.Meredith they are the Haudenosaunee and Mohawk and in Saugerties Munsee speaking Lenape, Schagticoke and Mohican), the original Earth keepers of this land. We deeply recognize that we are visitors and guests here. Thus, each day, we strive to remember to extend our deepest gratitude and open-hearted willingness to abide by their teachings and commit to engaging with the Haudenosaunee and other tribal and non-tribal communities towards diverse, inclusive and equitable cultures that care for the way we treat Earth and each other. 

And it is here, at Cultivating, we are committed to celebrating, supporting and preserving the tangible and intangible knowledge and practices of the indigenous people of our region. As well as our Ancestors, Plant and Tree people, feathered and finned ones, four leggeds, many leggeds to no legs. And as we live this each day, we resurrect our own indigenous soul and commit to embody these acknowledgements.

Who We Are – Inter Beings
In quietude reflection, we respectfully remember we must tend to Earth, Elements, Plants, Trees, Nature, first.
We are a collection of Inter-Beings, devoted to listening to the Voice of Earth, Elements, Plants, Trees, Nature.
We gather to foster an intimate, safe and sacred space for Earth centered healing. 
We carry joy in one hand and grief in the other, with neither having precedent over the other.
We are present.
We are generous.
We are healing.
We recognize we are imperfect.
We are respectful at deepening each of our unique spiritual selves.
We seek to dream the future we want to see.
We are empathic, transparent, and multidimensional.
We are better together.
We are inclusive and support the way we each respectfully show up.
We acknowledge land and place as our original Mother.
We embody circular living.
We are unity consciousness and co-creative.
We recognize, understand and strive to heal current and ancestral trauma of Mother Earth and her inhabitants with brave and courageous honesty.
We hold space to disagree without forming an opinion or a response. This allows us to hold multiple views at once and is essential for sharing this life with all other life.
We seek to recognize our complicity in oppressive structures and systems that harm us and Earth.
We understand we are Star beings seeded and born from Earths soil. And it is here that we reconnect with our indigenous Nature and embody compassionate acceptance and the courage needed to heal the current imbalances we have done to each other and to our Mother Earth.
And we understand that, we can’t know what we don’t know, … but when we do, we must then uphold a responsible framework for justice and repair.

Thus, as we listen with the-Nature-that-we-are, She teaches us.

As we listen, we come to know Plant language is relational language.
As we relate to Plants and Nature, our misguided trainings decolonize.
As we wildcraft, feel-into and give honor to Earth, Elements, Plants, Trees, Nature, we seamlessly de-condition, deconstruct and dismantle these ideologies of superiority, privilege, extractive mind, human supremacy and human exceptionalism.

And, as we remember the above, we mirror open-hearted loving kindness with Earth, treating Earth rightly as well as with our human siblings, [sisters and brothers].

Why We Are Here
We are here to pause and deeply listen, tune-in, collaborate and abide by the needs of our Earth Mother, Plant and Tree life, Elementals and Nature to restore and heal our ‘Kin-nections’ with all beings. 

What Are We

●      We listen and trust our intuition, instincts, our inner sensing and knowing

●      As Inter-Beings, we share as respectful humans and abide by a council of elders who are:
Ancestral Elders who were here before us
Plant and Tree Elders and Nature allies

●      The Indigenous Ones and Elders

●      The Voice of Nature

●      And together we heal

Why We Do This
This is radical change for Mother Earth, for each other.

How is this radical? Because our intuition has shriveled up, and this is by design. To recover our intuition in modernity, in this dominant culture, is radical work. As we do this we make up our own hearts and minds informed by the rest of Nature rather than outsourcing our hearts and minds to others.

We are un-learning and recovering our innate ability to listen to Nature. We human animals are Nature. What benefits her, in turn, benefits us but we must put her first. We wouldn’t be able to live without her.

 
This way of being and relating recognizes the trauma inflicted on Nature and the Nature that we are by settler colonialism, white supremacy, human exceptionalism, mindsets of domination, subjugation, exploitation, and extraction.

We recognize our conditioning, our inherited belief systems, and the perpetual harm by these structures and systems that make up our societies. These belief systems are pervasive in all “modern” Westernized countries and continue the destruction of Earth.

We actively refuse to uphold these mindsets by undoing our conditioning.

How?

●      We pay attention to Nature

●      We listen to the voices of Nature and act accordingly

●      We listen to the voices of Indigenous Peoples and act accordingly

●      We ask for permission and wait for consent

●      We offer heartfelt appreciation and gratitude for Nature

●      We live in reciprocity

●      We feel pain when they are disrespected

●      We speak up and often

●      We listen and trust our intuition, instincts, our inner sensing and knowing

This takes practice and patience because we will forget, we will make mistakes, we will fall back into familiar patterns and habits. The more we do it the more we will remember our kinship and interconnectedness with all of life. It is in each of our cells.

As we listen to voices that aren’t our own, to Indigenous voices that have always been and still are speaking Earth, and to Earth herself, we humans will be better informed, better able to uphold our responsibilities to Mother Earth, our more-than-human kin, and each other.

Find indigenous lands of your region here:
https://nativegov.org/news/a-guide-to-indigenous-land-acknowledgment/

Information of co-creating indigenous land acknowledgements here:
https://nativegov.org/news/a-guide-to-indigenous-land-acknowledgment/