The Haudenosaunee Ohén:ton Karihwatéhkwen Thanksgiving Address: Moving Beyond the Havoc of Land Acknowledgements

Authors

  • Jennifer Wemigwans University of Toronto
  • Lanna MacKay Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15402/esj.v9i2.70829

Keywords:

Indigenous Knowledge education, Ohén:ton Karihwatéhkwen (Thanksgiving Address), Indigenous Resurgence, land-based education, Land Acknowledgements

Abstract

Abstract
This article aims to offer a broad theoretical engagement with the Haudenosaunee Ohén:ton Karihwatéhkwen (Thanksgiving Address) and the practice of giving thanks as a foundational Indigenous Knowledge education practice for elementary school age children. We propose a critical rethinking of the practice of the Land Acknowledgement and instead put forward the Thanksgiving Address as a way to center Indigenous Knowledge practices and education in school systems. We provide a brief overview of the history and practice of the Thanksgiving Address, and a critical examination of institutionalized land acknowledgments. The work of educators at the Jackman Institute for Child Study with land acknowledgements and the Thanksgiving Address offers insight into land and place-based pedagogical approaches that take up Indigenous knowledge education and challenges coopted practices of Indigenous education.

Author Biographies

Jennifer Wemigwans, University of Toronto

is Assistant Professor in the Adult Education and Community Development Program at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education-University of Toronto. She is specializing in the convergence between education, Indigenous knowledge, and new technologies. Her book A Digital Bundle: Protecting and Promoting Indigenous Knowledge Online (2018) explores the prospects of Indigenous Knowledge education in a networked world. Email: jennifer.wemigwans@utoronto.ca 

Lanna MacKay, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

is a secondary school educator in Toronto and a Master of Education student in the Department of Adult Education and Community Development at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education-University of Toronto. Her current research interests include Indigenous Knowledge education, abolition as a theory of change, and anti-colonial land-based learning. Email: lanna.mackay@mail.utoronto.ca

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Published

2023-12-22

How to Cite

Wemigwans, J., & MacKay, L. (2023). The Haudenosaunee Ohén:ton Karihwatéhkwen Thanksgiving Address: Moving Beyond the Havoc of Land Acknowledgements. Engaged Scholar Journal: Community-Engaged Research, Teaching, and Learning, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.15402/esj.v9i2.70829