English Department Land Acknowledgement
The English Department at the University of Winnipeg is located on Treaty One Territory and the National Homeland of the Red River Métis, in Wiiniibak, Manido Abi. These are the ancestral lands of the Anishinaabeg, Anisininew, Ininiwak/Nehethowuk, Oceti Sakowin/Dakota Oyate, and Michif (Métis) Peoples. This territory is also a place of significance for the Denesuline and the Inuit, some of whom have been living here for generations. We acknowledge that our water is sourced from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation (Shoal Lake 39 is also impacted) in Treaty Three Territory, and that most of our hydro-electricity comes from Treaty Five Territory in northern Manitoba.
The above words are adapted from the University of Winnipeg Land Acknowledgement.
Reflecting on our own discipline, English, we are aware of the role of the English language and of English as an academic discipline in contributing to the historical and present formations of settler colonialism and imperialism in what is currently called Canada and around the world. In Manitoba, the English language was used strategically to dispossess Indigenous peoples from their lands and territories through the signing and implementation of Treaties One to Five. From Indigenous perspectives, as understood by the ancestors who signed the treaties and as passed down through oral traditions, the spirit and intent of the treaties included the peaceful sharing of Indigenous lands with settlers.
In contrast to the spirit and intent of treaties, the treaties printed in English have enabled the dispossession of Indigenous territories and the theft of natural resources. The result has been a catastrophic dislocation from the land and traditional ways of life, a dislocation that has had negative consequences on the health of Indigenous peoples, lands, and waters.
We also recognize that the English language was deliberately used as a way of alienating Indigenous peoples from their languages, cultures, families, and communities through the enforced teaching of English at the eighteen Indian Residential Schools and over one hundred Indian Day Schools that operated throughout Manitoba. English as an academic discipline continues to perpetuate racist Eurocentric ideas about who is and is not “civilized,” and contributes to colonial ideologies that value Eurocentric forms, genres, aesthetics, and subjectivities.
We witness the continuing legacy of this history in a multitude of injustices, inequities, and violences that threaten the health, wellbeing, and safety of Indigenous peoples throughout our province, particularly women and young people.
In expressing and enacting our land acknowledgement, we commit to honouring and supporting movements of self-determination, including Land Back, led by Indigenous stewards and protectors of this land we share.
We recognize the diverse ways that artists and thinkers from Indigenous, and other colonized, postcolonial, and marginalized communities, including those forced into the Americas through colonial and imperial violence, are reclaiming and revitalizing English to produce vibrant expressive literatures and cultures. Centering Indigenous and allied perspectives and pedagogies allows us to confront the colonial and imperial histories of our discipline; to engage with the full range of Englishes that comprise global English; and to challenge power structures, inequality, stereotypes, and racism. Students can learn more, and learn about ways to become actively engaged, by taking courses that satisfy the Indigenous Course Requirement.
We understand this statement to be a living document, open to our ongoing learning. Our original land acknowledgement was drafted by members of the English Department after extensive consultations with Elders in 2018, and then revised and updated in 2025.
Further Study (selected for local and regional focus):
Craft, Aimée. Breathing Life into the Stone Fort Treaty: An Anishinabe Understanding of Treaty One. Saskatoon: Purich Publishing, 2013. Ebook available at the University of Winnipeg Library.
Morris, Alexander. The Treaties of Canada with the Indians of Manitoba and the North-west Territories: including the negotiations on which they were based, and other information relating thereto. Toronto: Belfords, Clarke & Co., 1880. Ebook available at Internet Archive.
Peters, Evelyn J., Matthew Stock, et al. Rooster Town: The History of an Urban Métis Community, 1901-1961. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2018. Ebook available at the University of Winnipeg Library.
Treaties in Manitoba. Ottawa: Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 2010. Ebook available at Library and Archives Canada.
Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba.
Vowel, Chelsea. Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis, & Inuit Issues. Winnipeg: Highwater Press, 2016. Ebook available at the University of Winnipeg Library.
Zbitnew, Gregory (Dir.) “Grand Rapids: Ground Zero of Northern Manitoba’s Hydroelectric Mega-Projects.” Winnipeg: Winnipeg Film Group, 2011. 77 min. Film available for viewing through the University of Winnipeg Library.