How To Stuff Up An Acknowledgement Of Country
In the third article of this series, I’d like to address the issue of when you last witnessed someone do an ACO. Perhaps you saw and heard them mouth the words that came across as perhaps from the head rather than the heart. Your response may have been to suck in a breath and cringe at what appeared to be a lack of sincerity.
Perhaps you were asked to do an Acknowledgement of Country and were not sure of the words to say, what to do or how to go about it.
Many people seem to struggle over what is a simple yet important step to set up a culturally safe space for everyone present at your gathering. So I thought an article on how to spend your time getting it right before you stand and deliver.
Over the years I've seen many people do all sorts of things and get tongue-tied with their AOCs. The words tumble out with poor pronunciations, they seem a little hasty in their delivery, they appear to deliver the script without passion or imagination.
However, having said that, these people are having a go, instead not doing an AOC at all.
There is no shortage of information about an AOC. There are numerous downloadable resources for people to read and review. They cover policies, procedures and above all a set of words that could be printed off and practised. Just for the record, I did a specific search on google with the words “Acknowledgement of Country PDF†and the result was over 18 pages with 31,400,000 results.
Yet not one of those pages gave any tips on how to make an AOC genuine, respectful, authentic and sincere.
9 Common Human Mistakes People Make When They Give An AOC
1. An AOC becomes repetitive as the ten people before you have acknowledged country, and it’s hard to go off script
2. People haven’t checked with the mob such as Elders, go-betweens, Aboriginal liaisons or friends the correct way to do things
3. Some people are not comfortable saying the words as they are not a natural set of words used in their everyday business with people
4. Some read a scripted AOC, in a flat monotone voice, that sounds mechanical and detached from the audience
5. Many people practice by reading an AOC silently to themselves rather than practice out loud before they do it in front of an audience
6. Some forget or don’t know, the name of the country they are on
7. Others incorrectly pronounce the name, when there might be 2, 3 or possibly more different ways to pronoun a country name eg take the tomato – (yes I know it not a country) it can be pronounced “TOOmatoze†or , “TARmotoesâ€
8. Most people are not sure when to do an AOC, at the beginning in the middle or at the end of their speech
9. Many, many people forget to use their imagination
14 Tips For Doing an Acknowledgement of Country
1. Correct the 9 mistakes previously mentioned
2. Make your AOC segue to connect everyone in the room to culture, to each other and your reason for being in the room) #
3. Make it personal and be congruent with your reason for being at the gathering with the people present
4. Learn the name of the First Nation Country you are on and practice saying it in the different ways the local Aboriginal mob prefer – which might mean saying it two or three different ways
5. Find some common phrases that are used to the acknowledge of the country. Then make some adjustments to suit your personality and your style.
6. Make up your own words that convey your recognition of the country and reflect your personal style rather than your professional stance #
Five Ways to Prepare Your Head and Heart to do an AOC
1. Do some soul searching and ask yourself why it is important to you to be able to acknowledge country?
2. Why is it essential for you to do an AOC at your event?
3. Ask yourself what you are hoping to demonstrate by doing an AOC?
4. Why is it meaningful to have an AOC at your event?
5. What are you hoping to achieve by including an AOC as a part of your presentation and event?
An AOC is free and yet priceless.
An AOC takes time, yet saves time for later when building and strengthening relationships.
An AOC assists in making a first impression to many people other than an Aboriginal mob.
Next time you give an AOC make it meaningful, make it memorable and above all make it matter.
# Refer to the previous Acknowledgment 2 article on AOC is just a ritual and done by rote
Health Services Manager
6 å¹´Pls excuse my potential ignorance but, in a conference setting, wouldnt it be better to have a single, well written and genuine AOC at the start of each session to represent all speakers for that session? Is this a better option the repetitive, potentially cringe-worthy AOCs at the start of each talk within that session. Am I missing something - which is quite possible?
Social Worker Community Development & Support, Advocacy, Youth Worker, Network Coordinator MHPN/ABPDF (WA) .
6 å¹´Amy? you forgot one thing.. and after i write this you will probably edit your document. I was having a discussion with a peer about Acknowledgement of Country (both of us are non Indigenous - but I've spent time in remote areas and had conversations with Indigenous people about acknowledgement and welcome to country). The male i was talking to was ready to fight and go to bat that all meetings should start with a welcome (by himself and other organisations). I had to explain to him that as non Indigenous - we don't do the welcome because its not our 'country'.. we do the acknowledgement. He explained from his perspective (despite best intention) that it gets really confusing.. perhaps a "tip number one - if you aren't indigenous, or not a 'local Indigenous' don't do the welcome??
Independent Environmental Consultant and NED
6 年Brilliant. Sums up some issues I’ve grappled with - particularly the appropriateness of the segue into a professional development session.
Product & Design Leader | PhD | Strategic Product Development | Cross-Functional Leader | Agile Innovation Expert
6 年Thanks for this. I have done a few now and they are truly nerve-wracking because you want to do it justice and be meaningful... and I’ll add that if you do something anyone disagrees with they will let you know.