Photo credit: Jamil Rhajiak / UBC Brand & Marketing
Read more about the Musqueam Post, carved by Brent Sparrow Jr.
The UBC School of Creative Writing was founded in 1963 on the unsurrendered territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓-speaking xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people. We acknowledge the matrix of privilege that sanctioned our founding: the colonial enterprises of Canada and British Columbia; the many legal and political barriers that have prohibited Indigenous peoples from pursuing a University education; and the centering of whiteness that has long endured in the teaching of Creative Writing.
A land acknowledgement is a call to action. We aspire to uphold Musqueam sovereignty, understanding that the land exists outside the idiom of property. We acknowledge the land as a cultural life-force, a source of inspiration, and the site of community; we strive to respect this place and the memory of this place in our writing and teaching. We likewise respect and honor the past, present, and future Musqueam storytellers and caretakers of the land. We are grateful for their stewardship and their example.
We commit to an engagement with current anti-oppressive and Indigenous pedagogies in our classrooms. We endeavor to create a community built on respect for each other and the land where we collectively work toward a more inclusive, safer and kinder future. We acknowledge that our work is incomplete and ongoing.