Exploring Land Acknowledgement Statements in United States Higher Education: A Thematic and Linguistic Analysis Restricted; Files Only
Bekele, Sarah (Spring 2024)
Published
Abstract
In this paper, I examined the history and structure of land acknowledgment statements as well as the function of speech acts within them from U.S. four-year public and private non-profit colleges and universities to create a better understanding of land acknowledgment statements. Treating these statements as their own genre, I examined them through speech act theory and thematic analysis to answer the following questions: how many higher education institutions have land acknowledgment statements? What are the linguistic components of a land acknowledgment statement? What types of speech acts are utilized by these statements? And, what is an acknowledgment? While land acknowledgments may appear to be a relatively new phenomenon, their origins can be traced back to Indigenous communities (Ellis & Stremlau, 2022). Still, a survey conducted on a randomly selected sample from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2023) revealed that 41% of U.S. institutions have land acknowledgment statements. Additionally, two studies done on a random sample from the NCES and another from the first 50 schools on the Best U.S. News & World Report of 2023 (USN, 2023) found that, the statements show variability in content and length but still share some similar information. However, the only consistent elements found were that they were titled “Land Acknowledgement Statements” or a similar title and mentioned that some Indigenous group had lived on the land the institution is on. In focusing on speech acts, not all statements use the explicit performative verb acknowledge. Still, I argue that acknowledge adds relevant and critical information to these statements, specifically how it addresses that Indigenous history itself is often erased (Sobo et al., 2021). This research contributes to understanding land acknowledgments as a genre in U.S. higher education institutions and highlights their distinct features so we can better understand what an acknowledgement is.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………..1
1.1 Historical Context of Land Acknowledgements in the United States and Beyond......2
1.2 Land Acknowledgement Statements as a Genre……….…………….…….…….…...8
2. Part 1 - Surveying The Population…………………………………………………………….14
2.1 Methods………………………………………….…….……….………….…………14
2.2 Results…………………………..…………….…………………..…….……………16
3. Part 2 - Thematic Analysis of Land Acknowledgement Statements……………………...…..17
3.1 Methods………………………………………………………….…..………………17
3.2 Results Top 50 ……………………………………….…………………...…………24
3.3 Results Random 50………….………….……………………………………………30
4. Discussions……………………………………………………...…………………………….33
5. Conclusion……………………….……………………………………………………………41
6. References……………………….………………….……………………………………...…43
7. Appendixes………………………………………………………………….……………..…46
7.1 Appendix A……………………………………....………….……...………….…....46
7.2 Appendix B……………………………………...………….........….……....……....53
7.3 Appendix C……………………………………...…………….………………....….54
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File download under embargo until 24 May 2025 | 2024-04-09 20:46:46 -0400 | File download under embargo until 24 May 2025 |
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