Poets Re-Imagine Canada: A Primer for a Land beyond Acknowledgements

Move beyond routine land acknowledgements toward real reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous peoples.

Learn from 37 examples of personal statements in poetry and prose that show how to use the space at meetings now filled with land acknowledgement lip-service to step into actual reconciliation instead. The foreword, by Indigenous Edmonton City Councillor Aaron Paquette, and the introduction confront Canada’s racist past and present and invite readers to educate themselves and others to help create a better future.

Excerpt from the introduction of Poets Re-Imagine Canada: A Primer for a Land beyond Acknowledgements by Edmonton Stroll of Poets Society

“Learn. Acknowledge. Celebrate. These three acts of reconciliation are at the heart of this book, not as ends in themselves but as means to encourage further concrete actions: imagining a better Canada, supporting Indigenous businesses, cultivating friendships with individual Indigenous people, connecting with Indigenous organizations, and working to change socio-political-cultural-legal systems that embody biased history and racial injustice. The first step, though, is to learn, and the first part to learn is the history. Without a more complete understanding of our national and local history, land acknowledgements are guaranteed to be mere lip service.”

Excerpt from the preface of Poets Re-Imagine Canada: A Primer for a Land beyond Acknowledgements by Edmonton Stroll of Poets Society

“Canadians have a reputation for being quick to say, ‘Sorry,’ but all too often in our relationships with Indigenous peoples that’s all we do, as if that word has the power to erase five centuries of racial injustice.”

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