This is a topic with has lots of excellent essays and lots of thought. This is my humble effort.
Public events in Canada generally begin with a land acknowledgement. People acknowledge that the land on which Canada sits is often unceded treaty land. Email signatures include these acknowledgements. Sports games sometimes start with them. Are these just words?
Words can be meaningful. Has the British crown ever issued a full and unconditional apology for the rape, loot and plunder of India? Oxfam estimates that the United Kingdom extracted 65 trillion dollars (in 2025 value) from the Indian subcontinent during the British Raj. Has the British government or crown ever admitted to and accepted responsibility for this? Not to my knowledge. Even if they did simply acknowledge the act, will that be enough? Here is what would be enough for me – acknowledging that the horrors of colonialism happened, accepting that the British government and crown were responsible for it and, finally, asking for forgiveness. These are but words, but they can have an impact. The prosperity of the modern UK is built on stolen wealth. Will that be acknowledged?
A land acknowledgement in Canada, though? Sure, one could argue that it spreads awareness, but awareness of what, exactly? That the land I live on is stolen? But then what?
A fantastic parallel is the caste system in India. I have a caste, every brown person does, but my being Catholic with a Portuguese surname erases one of the most prominent markers of my caste. There are ways to find my caste but my name is not one of them. Caste in India has strong overlap with economic class. Generally, the wealthy are from the upper castes, or maybe a few rungs down, but are rarely from the lower or the disrespected castes. This power has become solidified over generations and is difficult to erode. For example, if I lose all my money, I will be broke. I will never fall into poverty. That, right there, is caste privilege manifesting as an economic safety net. It is likely that the majority of Indians are not upper castes but the upper castes run the country. They have the power.
Imagine a world where caste Hindus acknowledged that their power and influence was built on the exploitation of the lower castes, but that’s it. They simply acknowledged this fact before every public event and then went about their lives exactly as before. Will that demolish the horrors of the caste system and return everyone in the विश्वगुरु (vishwaguru) to a utopia? No.
Caste persists today. It is alive and well despite the feverish denials of many Indians. Land acknowledgements in Canada are similar. Yes, the Indian state has tried to undo millennia of caste privilege by academic reservations for lower caste folks. Has it worked? To an extent but this is not a long term solution. Has the Canadian government made progress towards restoring the rights of indigenous Canadians? Sure, but is it enough? I don’t know. What even is enough?
The way some land acknowledgments are phrased is confusing. I’ve heard some start with “as a visitor on this land…”. I am not a visitor, I live here. You cannot be a visitor and resident at the same time. Maybe I am a visitor in the sense that I will one day be dead?
The settler colonialism phrasing also bothers me. I’ve heard some white people profess a guilt, a feeling of responsibility for colonialism. In my view, there is only one party that bears the full responsibility for Canadian colonialism – the Crown of Canada and therefore, the Canadian government. This, however, is where I differ from crazy people, usually on the political right. White people benefit greatly from colonialism. This is not something in the past tense, it is alive and well today, just as caste is alive and well in India. Just the act of acknowledging caste is difficult for many Indians. Similarly, we cannot simply wish away the colonialism of the past that led to the colonialism of today. Acknowledging it is a good first step but that does not take away from the fact that many land acknowledgements are simply performative, empty gestures. You may benefit from something but you are not responsible for it. The most I ask for is an acknowledgement that a certain system exists.
This brings me back to where I started, is the acknowledgement enough? I don’t know.