Indigenous leaders to deliver land acknowledgement at Niagara Falls city council meetings – Niagara Falls Review

Sept. 24, 2021

Last week’s Niagara Falls city council meeting started with an Indigenous land acknowledgement, a process that will continue at future sessions.

After a recorded performance of the Canadian national anthem, a video was played during the Sept. 14 meeting showing Jackie Labonte, a traditional knowledge keeper and local member of the Haudenosaunee, perform a ceremonial smudging of council chambers and deliver a land acknowledgement.

Mayor Jim Diodati said while there won’t be a smudging ceremony at every meeting, all future sessions will begin with a different land acknowledgement.

Rather than the mayor reading text from the council agenda, Diodati said, the idea is to have different Indigenous people deliver the acknowledgement.

Read More: https://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/news/council/2021/09/24/indigenous-leaders-to-deliver-land-acknowledgement-at-niagara-falls-city-council-meetings.html