Our daily second-period announcements have been the same for years: Pledge of Allegiance, sports updates, club schedules, and a wish for a good day. Now, we’ve added something new-a Land Acknowledgement. 

The announcement’s purpose is to address the fact that we’re living on land that belongs to native indigenous people.

“The idea of a Land Acknowledgement has been initiated by indigenous activists, and so for our school, we worked together to create something that would be a part of our school routine,” senior ASB Treasurer Amira Turner said. 

Some concerns have arisen over the frequency of the acknowledgment.

“Are students going to tune it out like they have the rest of the morning announcements?” senior Rachel Matteson said.

However, a lot of thought and debate went into the process of creating this everyday announcement.

“At first it was going to be just for large events, but we owe it to the people who owned this country before us to honor their land as much as we honor our own flag every morning,” Turner said. “It was an interesting process creating it because it has to be specific to the area; we looked at the history of where we are and how the land has been used.”

However, the speech acknowledges more than just the past. It’s purpose expands to the present, and how the  indigenous community is being treated right now.

“The goal was to honor and help the indigenous community that is around us and a part of our state,” Turner said.