Taxpayer acknowledgement to replace land acknowledgements

In at least one school where I have worked in the Tacoma district, the Pledge of Allegiance is never said, even though it is mandated by state law. Instead, teachers and administrators often force participants in their meetings to listen to and sometimes read together the following land acknowledgment:

Tacoma Public Schools acknowledges that we are on the traditional ancestral and historical lands of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. We honor with gratitude the land itself and the Puyallup Tribe. This acknowledgement serves as a first step in honoring our nearest tribal neighbors and partners who have inhabited this region since time immemorial, and whom we give thanks for allowing us passage to their lands. We shall intentionally create inclusive and respectful partnerships that honor Indigenous cultures, histories, identities, and sociopolitical realities.

Indian Education

The 8th grade social studies curriculum created by EduCurious that the school I worked in adopted has a lesson in which students are required to read several land acknowledgements and write one of their own.

When writing a land acknowledgement, says the Native Governance Center, “Don’t sugarcoat the past. Use terms like genocide, ethnic cleansing, stolen land, and forced removal to reflect actions taken by colonizers.” The NGC also says that your motives need to be in the right place. “If you’re hoping to inspire others to take action to support Indigenous communities, you’re on the right track. If you’re delivering a land acknowledgment out of guilt or because everyone else is doing it, more self-reflection is in order.”

Clearly, I need more self-reflection. Here’s all I can come up with:

We acknowledge that we are meeting in a building that was paid for with money stolen from taxpayers. As teachers, we also acknowledge that our paychecks come from the hard work of our fellow taxpayers who come from all backgrounds, including but not limited to Americans of Asian, African, European, and South American, descent. We honor with gratitude the work they do and the forced payments they make to the government so that we can have this meeting. Therefore, we will keep it short so that we can do what the taxpayers asked us to do, educate their kids. We also honor the sacrifice of all taxpayers’ ancestors who fought the good fight to make it possible for this diverse group to actually sit here and have a nice meeting without fighting each other because of our skin color. Thanks to the taxpayer, we will be respectful, listen to each other, and be non-sectarian in order to better serve and represent those we are stealing from to do our work.

Hoorah.

Not sure about the Hoorah.