VIDEO: Huskies athletes put personal spin on pre-game land acknowledgements

For the last several years, University of Saskatchewan Huskies sports teams have been playing land acknowledgments before their games to honour Indigenous Peoples and the land they play on.

But this year Huskies Athletics has decided to change things up a little bit from the way the land acknowledgement had been done in years past.

Before the start of their seasons, Huskies coaches approached their athletes and asked someone to volunteer to write their own personal land acknowledgment which would be played before their home games. This is different and meant to be more personal compared with the one that gets repeated at events throughout the year.

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Alyssa D’Agnone is in her fourth season with the Huskies soccer team, and volunteered to write her own land acknowledgment for this season.

She’s not Indigenous, but says writing her own acknowledgment taught her a lot about Indigenous culture.

“It’s something Huskies Athletics wanted to do, it was something special. In previous years we’ve had just the generic land acknowledgment before the games, which is still important, but I think we at Huskies Athletics thought it wasn’t personal enough,” D’Agnone explained.

“I was really grateful for the opportunity. It gave me a chance to reflect and really think about it, which I hadn’t really done in that much detail before. It was really nice to sit down and write one for myself,” she added.

D’Agnone said writing her land acknowledgement wasn’t easy.

“I found it was hard to know where to start. What I heard before was just the general land acknowledgment, but that’s really it,” D’Agnone said.

“I took it as an opportunity to learn more and educate myself on the topic. I got some feedback from some people and once I got going it felt really nice to write.”

“I would like to acknowledge that the land we gather on here today is Treaty 6 territory and homeland of the Métis,” reads D’Agnone’s acknowledgment.

“This land has been the foundation for sport for many centuries and without it we would not have the opportunity to celebrate soccer today.

“We honour those who have steered the land for centuries prior to us. We recognize the ongoing inequalities existing in our community. Moving forward, we must commit to taking more meaningful actions towards reconciliation.

“As members of the sport community, No. 89 of the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action should resonate deeply. It calls to reduce the barriers of sport participation for aboriginal peoples, and is a great starting point.

“Let us remember that today is more than just a game of soccer. Today is an opportunity to honour the land’s cultural value and to add to its enduring history both respectfully and impactfully,” the acknowledgement concludes.

D’Agnone’s said writing the land acknowledgement was a really a cool experience.

“It’s spreading more awareness because when the generic one comes on everyone knows what’s going to be said. In this scenario, everyone is different,” she said.

“When you go to a volleyball game, a basketball game, a hockey game you’re not sure what you’re going to hear and it’s someone’s unique experiences and their thoughts on the acknowledgment, so it’s pretty cool.”

Huskies Athletics suggests by having their athletes write their own land acknowledgments that it’s one of the truest forms of reconciliation.

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