Do Land Acknowledgements Go Too Far? Fr Cristino Priest Responds

Do land acknowledgements go too far in Catholic churches and Catholic prayer settings?

In this video, Fr. Cristino — a Catholic priest with Indigenous heritage — offers a clear Catholic response to land acknowledgements, reconciliation, and prayer in Canada.

Land acknowledgements are now common across Canada — in schools, public events, and increasingly in Catholic settings. Many Catholics are asking sincere questions: What do land acknowledgements actually mean? When are they helpful? And when do they risk losing their meaning or distracting from prayer and worship?

In this thoughtful conversation, Fr. Cristino brings together his Catholic faith, Indigenous heritage, and pastoral experience to address these questions with clarity and charity. He explains the origins of land acknowledgements, the difference between traditional territory and unceded land, and why context and frequency matter.

In this discussion, we explore:
• What land acknowledgements are — and what they are not
• Whether they imply guilt, shame, or victimhood
• Why prayer must always remain central in Catholic gatherings
• How Catholics can approach reconciliation without ideology
• When land acknowledgements may be meaningful — and when they are not

Transcript

Father Cristino, welcome back. Thank you, Ken. Pleasure to have you. Always a pleasure to be with you. I have to tell you something that happened recently. I was pulled aside in a in a social gathering by a gentleman and he says, you know, that priest you have on sometimes. I think he would be suited to answer some questions I have. Oh, very good. And um so some of the questions I would like to present to you come from some viewers and there are also some that I've been thinking about myself and have been meaning to ask you on some clarification for specifically regarding uh this is land acknowledgements that happen very regularly here in Canada. Now for our viewers who are unaware of what a land acknowledgement is, would you care to just to summarize what happens and when it happens? Sure. So, a land acknowledgement uh comes from out of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report that generated what we refer to as the calls to action. it would be uh appropriate and helpful for fostering reconciliation uh with and among indigenous people in Canada that it would be recognized where we are standing or where we have gathered are the traditional territories of indigenous people who it's an undeniable fact lived here before anyone else lived here. And so there's a whole wide range of formulations and a variety of ways in which people have tried to accomplish that. Uh but that's basically where this whole concept of land acknowledgements came from. Okay. Uh I thought maybe it might be good to just give an example of one that types like this. We acknowledge that we are on treaty 6 territory of the first nations including cre denotto

territories and homeland of matei nation. We reaffirm our relationship with one another in the spirit of reconciliation. Mhm. So they have different formulations but what what does that mean? I think what it means or or what the the hope of having these land acknowledgements is for is so that when people are gathered in some place, we will not lose sight of the fact that irrespective of what we're doing on this land now and how we're living and paying little attention to its history, something like a land acknowledgement will keep it ever at the front of our mind that where we are wasn't just blank. empty space uh where no one was living and no one was working and no one was uh farming or hunting until Europeans got here. And I I can appreciate uh from just from the perspective of wanting to preserve history uh wanting to do justice to our predecessors and ancestors that there has developed this desire to to state that and to try and help remind people of that fact. And if you don't mind, if you could share just a little bit, you have an indigenous background, right? So previous episodes you talked about your Italian heritage, but there was something else in your background, right? Exactly. My so my mother yes she's born of Italian immigrants to Canada but my father has on both sides his maternal and paternal sides uh indigenous heritage that obviously goes all the way back to the origins of our family. On my grandfather's side there would be traditionally what we refer to as matei. Uh he had a French Canadian uh line through his father and uh indigenous first nations line through his mother. My grandmother was also born on a reserve, the Satellite Creation northeast of Edmonton, uh to an indigenous father, although her mother was of British descent. She moved out west and lived on reserve and married an indigenous man. And uh so she was of mixed uh heritage herself, but like I said, born on a reserve, would have stayed there had it not been for the time that she spent in residential school. She was 12 years uh in the residential school in Edmonton. So each year always only home for a very brief visit. Okay. Uh so she I can't properly speaking say that she was raised on the reserve but that was home to her. Okay. Okay. So often times you are tapped by pe the bishops of Canada to speak on matters of indigenous relationships and is that correct to say? Uh, I mean that maybe that sounds a bit more than it. I have been asked to help in some of the things that our Canadian bishops are doing to foster and help promote indigenous reconciliation uh, specifically between the church nationally speaking and indigenous peoples in the country. Partly because of my indigenous heritage uh, but I think also just because I have tried to demonstrate my own commitment to showing that reconciliation is possible. I'm a Catholic priest very happily and a person of indigenous heritage and that those things can coexist. Okay, so forgive me for fumbling through that question but thanks thanks for the clarification. Um, now there's some people who feel like the land acknowledgement is saying something like and forgive again this like raw language but non-indigenous people are standing on stolen land and it's interpreted that way by some. H how would you respond to that? Well, I can understand why people would feel like that's what's being said. I don't think that's what's meant to be said. There are actually different uh categories that get used when speaking about the land itself. Sometimes you will hear the phrase used the unseeded territories of in which case that is making reference to whatever first nation or indigenous uh group of people in some geographical location who would argue that they never did enter into a treaty agreement of any kind that their land would be now used and lived on and controlled by Europeans. So some refer to that as unseated territory. Okay. And in other places, this is much more common out west where treaties were drawn up and clearly defined and generally speaking, I think we could agree historically were entered into in good faith between indigenous leadership and uh British representation. These these treaties are with the British crown. that yes, they were legally agreed to uh that this would be how the land would now be used and who would live on it and what portion of that land would be designated as what now we refer to in modern terms as a as an Indian reserve or uh an indigenous reservation. that is sometimes then referred to as the traditional territories of which is not claiming that it was not ever seated because that would not be true but that it's still this is a place in which these first peoples had made their original home. I think when you're listening to a formulation of a land acknowledgement that says that we are gathered on the unseeded territory of a certain group of people, it's hard not to interpret that as sounding like uh these people never gave their land away, but we're all here. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that is different than when we say we acknowledge that we are on the traditional territories of so and so which is an undeniable statement. That is where these people traditionally did live. So when we say that, I would not jump to the assumption that we're being told that you're on stolen land. Uh I think the unseated territory formulation, wherever that is used, is more along those lines. How are these statements helpful when we're gathering? or are they well like do you feel as an indigenous person with background that these are acknowledgements are necessary when you go into a public setting and there's going to be a because we hear this is kind of common place now and some are questioning well why why is this useful I I first I should acknowledge that I have a minority opinion on this topic I think among indigenous and many non-indigenous people uh who are invested in in indigenous reconciliation. I am not opposed to land acknowledgements and the use of land acknowledgements. I think that they can help serve a very valuable purpose in preserving history and reminding us of our origins uh even I could say our shared history. But I am I am reluctant about them because of the frequency with which I have begun to see them being used. Uh it's it's sort of like um my when I was a kid, I had a habit of the moment I thought that I had done something wrong, I started to say I was sorry. And uh and my poor mother one day I think just finally lost it and said, "Would you stop saying you're sorry and just stop doing that?" And I think that there's a reasonable request there. Don't just tell me you're sorry. Don't do the thing that makes you have to say you're sorry. If you repeat something over and over and over again, I think it's reasonable to ask whether or not it's a sincere uh thing that you're saying. In the case of it being an apology, I think it's reasonable to wonder, do you really mean it? If you really meant it, wouldn't you just stop doing the thing that you're saying sorry for? By extension, if every single time a group of people gather, at the beginning of that gathering, someone gets up and has to give a land acknowledgement. I'm aware of certain school divisions where every morning before school starts over the intercom, a land acknowledgement is read. At a certain point, people are not listening and they don't care and they roll their eyes at it or it becomes a a joke. It becomes a mockery. Especially when people out of I think a very sincere desire to be as authentic as possible are trying to pronounce indigenous words that are almost impossible to pronounce comprehensibly. And so it you begin sort of mumbling and stumbling and and you smirk to yourself or everyone starts to laugh. it completely defeats the purpose of what I think you wanted to accomplish there. So, all of that is to say, I think they have their place and I respect the use of land acknowledgements, but I think we seriously need to reconsider their frequency of use. I I I agree with you and this is why I wanted to bring it up. I didn't know what your response was going to be, but it just seems like when you repeat and repeat and repeat something, sometimes depending on the circumstance and what you're saying, it loses its meaning. M um now not always depending on what's being said like I hope that I always repeat to my wife I love you and I hope that it as often it always means something to her but in this case it seems a little different and I feel like it would be more meaningful if there was some sort of clear guidance on or practice of having in certain circumstances and not others. Yeah. Like so in your in the perfect world of father Christino giving some guidance to this when do you think it would be useful to have these and when would it be not for example schoolboard meeting they meet every so often is it and this is very common schoolboard meeting with the Catholic schools for example land acknowledgement um every single time is that necessary in a perfect world how would you offer some guidance in in my vision of a perfect world. We'll get back to the conversation in just a second, but a question for you. If you've been blessed by this video, you could help us out in a couple very simple ways. Firstly, like and share this video. YouTube is going to see that and then suggest this message out to a larger audience. So, that's something simple you could do. Secondly, could you pray for us? We're always in need of grace and we'd greatly appreciate your prayers. And thirdly, if it is possible, consider supporting our mission at cannonjanel.com. Your support allows us to continue producing videos just like the one you're watching. So thank you so much for the consideration. Now back to the conversation. In a perfect world, how would you offer some guidance? In my vision of a perfect world, I think land acknowledgements would carry the most effective meaning if it made sense why on this occasion we're hearing one. So let's let's look at instances. a groundbreaking ceremony when you're starting the construction of something. We're actually talking about the ground here. So, let's say let's remind ourselves what this ground represents to whom it has always belonged and has been lived on and continues to be lived on to this day. That would be a very reasonable understanding of why it makes sense to us that we're going to acknowledge that right now at the start of something new at the beginning of the new school year. I saying it every single morning when you come to school versus at the start of the school year. We're going to have a a a much richer uh formula, let's call it, of of the land acknowledgement, but we're using it as part of how we're inaugurating our new school year. uh or on occasions where uh you're celebrating something of indigenous history. There's we have in June every year uh in indigenous people's day uh at the beginning of the gathering that you're having that you would do that. Uh, I think the the where it would be educational, where it would be potentially the first time a person that's there is going to be hearing this, uh, that, oh yeah, that's an interesting point. I'm glad to have been reminded of that. Uh, I think we can be more thoughtful and creative about when and where we use them rather than thinking that if we've ever gathered and there's not one that somehow now we're not committed to reconciliation with indigenous people in our country. I think that that's just uh an oversimplification of what actual work needs to be put into this. I think there's some people that when they hear the land acknowledgement within the context of a faith setting led by the Catholic Church and they hear it every single time before it is even opened with a prayer. It's like this becomes more important than God, right? Because before we can even talk about God and invoke his presence and welcome, we have to go back to we acknowledge that we are in treaty 6 territory, the first nation da da da da da da da. And so in those situations, I think and this is I I think this is what is happening now. People are starting to like what I didn't come here. I came here to worship God. I came here for my devotion. What does this have to do with us praying here right now? Mhm. I I I appreciate your insight when it would be practical, when it would be useful, but I I failed to see the connection where you do it every single time. And I and I realize that with our American friends who are watching, they totally might not get this point because they don't have I don't to my knowledge don't have this in the United States, but this is it becomes a it's a consistent ritual. Mhm. And uh so I appreciate your insight into when it would be appropriate. Would you agree that it's there's a danger of raising this we forget if we start before with this before we stop talk about God we got things backwards. Well completely if if people have gathered for a religious celebration and the first thing you do isn't pray I think that that's a bit shocking. I know I've been put in this position numerous times where I've been asked father would you uh be comfortable also giving the land acknowledgement as part of the opening prayer and I always say yes I will do it as part of the opening prayer not okay everyone here's our land acknowledgement and now let us pray why can't I as a land acknowledgement in the context of my talking to God the creator also give him thanks for the gift of the land on which we are gathered that you first uh bequeathed to the people who once lived here and continue to live here today and we thank you for the rich bounty of the harvest that comes from this land. Why can't we thank God for the land, the creator as something that all indigenous people would recognize as being part of who it mean what it means for them to be who they are was a close relationship to the creator. That's why I'm grateful that at least in Catholic settings where land acknowledgements are being used, we almost always will hear some reference being made to the creator or the gift of the land that we have received from the creator. And that's I that just makes sense to me because that's also in recognition of of how indigenous people would have also honored and understood the land on which they lived. Yeah. For me, it does not make sense to put that before prayer though. Well, that's why I'm saying I it's it I don't need to have an extra one. If when I make the opening prayer, I say effectively the same things. If you insist that no, no, the land acknowledge has to be separate, then I'm going to start questioning the motive behind using it. Mhm. If all that matters is that we are reminded of the gift of the land on which we are present and gathered, what difference does it make if it's read in a statement that's called land acknowledgement in the program outline or if references made to it in the context of my speaking to God in the opening prayer. If all that matters is that it's said that's what I'm trying to say is sometimes I think extra meaning is imposed upon these things. It goes back to sort of the stuff we've talked about before with checking boxes. It could become very much a virtue signaling thing. And I hear that sometimes. It sounds like some of these formulations are like trying to outdo each other in their indigenity. And I I just think I are we missing the point here. Did you just invent a new word in Oh, no. In my circles, you hear that word come up quite often. Never heard that word before. Thank you for educating me. Yes. I'm happy to educate you.

The there are some who have a concern along the similar lines though and it goes something like this that these land acknowledgements perpetually keep indigenous people in victimhood and non-indigenous people in a sense a position of shame. Mhm. And these acknowledgements just reinforce that. It really does is does no good because it just reinforces these two positions. Do you see it differently? I'm of the opinion that it's not the land acknowledgement as much as it's the frequency. I think if these things were not happening that frequently. If two or three times a year you found yourself in a gathering where you heard a land acknowledgement, I think it would carry much more impact as a reminder that we don't have to be ashamed that I live here now. I had nothing to do with the fact that I live here now. But we don't need to ignore and pretend like there isn't a history that has had a profound impact on the life of the people who did live here first. I'm not saying that you need to be ashamed of that because you have you bear no personal guilt for that. But it shouldn't evoke shame nor should it evoke victimhood that you are living in a place where other people now live. I think one of the things we are failing to recognize is that all of human history is based upon conquest. The people in this place went to the people in this place and they fought it out and one of them won and got to keep their land or lost their land. That is the basic premise of humanity since the fall. And it still goes to this day. Russia says this part of Ukraine is part of Russia. the rest of the world says Russia's bad and shouldn't be trying to take over part of this sovereign land of Ukraine. This is it never ends. This is an ongoing and perpetual experience. And forgive my insensitivity to my indigenous people, but indigenous people did this to each other. I come from a part of Alberta where when I hear the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy, I have to think to myself, what do you mean like how far back are we looking? Because there was other people than the Blackfoot who were here and they fought a brutal war and got driven out. Whose land was that? Do do Blackfoot people gather and give a land acknowledgement that this was the traditional territory of the Plains Cree who are no longer living here? It's just human history. I'm not justifying it, but I'm saying we also need to remember that this isn't some radically unique thing that just happened here that we must never forget it. Yes, we should not forget, but we should remember with gratitude. not remember with shame and resentment. And how long do these continue for from time into eternity? I mean, when we sing national the national anthem when we gather. Some might argue, well, why why do we got to do that? We know where we are. We know that we're a country. We know what that song is. Why do we have to sing the national anthem every time we gather? Because that's just what we do. It's it's good practice. It builds patriotism to remind us that we stand behind this common hymn that as a country we sing to bolster our love for our country. I think if we can strip away the shame and resentment that seem to be coming more and more associated with these land acknowledgements, which I think would help be helped immensely if they were used much less frequently, then they could become something akin to the national anthem where when we hear them, we're reminded of this common history that I'm grateful that I live in this land and I as an indigenous person am grateful ful that my history is not ever being forgotten, including by people who come here and know nothing of that history. You uh but unlike the national anthem, you're not suggesting that it's at the beginning of every school day. Well, no, exactly. That's what I'm saying. I I hear land acknowledgements way more frequently than I sing my national anthem. So, it does ask me or prompts me to ask what is the meaning of that? I I I think um in our area, the rural area, we have good Saskatchewan farmers. We're in the place where they're the second or third generation of settlers who came from another country. They came here. When they came to this area, there was there was no cities. There was no towns. The railway hadn't maybe come through yet. And they broke the land. They built these farms. Uh and I and now they're productive with the land. And they're each farm feeds can feed thousands of people depending on the size of the farm. And um I think sometimes farmers when they look at how hard they have worked, they the land was bought legally and now they sit through a land acknowledgement, they think, well, how am I supposed to feel about how hard we've worked on our land? Do we are we supposed to think that we stole this land from other people and then feel guilty about now being productive with it? Do do you see sometimes I see that I see that and that's what I'm saying that just because you think something or just because some emotion or reaction is evoked in you doesn't mean that it flows logically from what's happening. If when you hear a land acknowledgement you hear hatred and judgment and condemnation that makes you feel ashamed that's a you problem. I I don't know how to help you with that. get over it. I'm I'm sorry. Right. If you're just annoyed and bitter and resentful that this is a thing that happens in our country, again, I don't know what to say to you, but I I am saying that I understand why those emotional reactions happen when it feels like you're being bludgeoned to death by something because every time you turn around, we have to have a land acknowledgement. it diminishes the value of them. I'm acknowledging that myself. And so where it is up to me, I would use them way less frequently. But if there are people who think that fundamentally as a principle, we talk lots about principles. As a principle, a land acknowledgement is inappropriate or unhistorical or causes harm. I just can't accept that as a principle. It can it has the capacity to preserve history to express gratitude to recognize the objective goodness of the place where we are. Those are good things and I don't think we need to get ourselves all tied up in knots over it. But I do appreciate how annoying it can become if every time you turn around and every time you enter a building and every time you sit down, I you've heard me maybe make the joke before where two or three are gathered in my name, there will be a land acknowledgement. That's not what our Lord said. That's not the gospel. We don't need to be so uptight about making sure that they always happen. Nor do we need to be so uptight when we hear that they do. I think if people could just receive them for what they have the capacity to give, they'd actually accomplish a lot more. And I think why people are starting to feel really uptight about them is because of the frequency. And I think that was a really valid point. Appreciate that. Anything any closing comments you want to offer here or are we kind of done? Um, no. I I think I I'm happy to say that when we acknowledge where we are and where we've come from that it helps us strengthen our identity. And there's no harm in that. So the next time you hear a land acknowledgement, even if it's the eenth time that week that you're hearing it, maybe try and hear it with a different set of ears and hear it as an opportunity to be reminded of of a shared history, of God's goodness, and of the brotherhood that I hope we should all be able to share. Thanks, Father.