Typically, land acknowledgments consist of statements at the start of events recognizing the land, where the event is being held, was taken from indigenous groups. They are simplified, misleading and hypocritical in many ways.
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They imply exclusive original ownership while ignoring indigenous conquests. Pre-colonial America was not a static set of peaceful land stewards. Tribes frequently displaced, conquered and absorbed one another.
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Groups present at first contact with Americans are portrayed as the eternal rightful owners. This distorted version of history treats only American possession of the land as illegitimate.
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Phony acknowledgments ignore treaties, purchases and the law of conquest. The result is a one-sided view that presents complex history only as theft.
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They are performative and hypocritical words without corresponding actions. They are empty gestures intended to make liberals feel morally superior.
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History is sanitized and distorted to comfort protected classes. Indigenous people are portrayed as mythically peaceful, when their past is anything but.
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They selectively moralize to erase later contributions of settlers who acquired the land consonant with the prevailing legal systems.
MLLG Land Acknowledgment: This land belongs to the present day owners of record. It was acquired legitimately via purchase, treaty and/or recognized laws of conquest, all in accordance with the laws in place at the time of acquisition.
In short, land acknowledgments are a simple morality play that costs the speakers nothing. Even many indigenous scholars are critical. History everywhere involves waves of migration, conflict and displacement. Treating only one such example as illegitimate, while performing ritual incantations, is meaningless.
Land Ownership in Present Day Montana
I am providing, as an illustration, what an accurate land acknowledgment would look like for 2026 Montana. Ownership or possession of the land channelled through successive tribal migrations, power shifts due to horses and guns, contact with Europeans, treaties and warfare. Of necessity, these data are not precise but are the best available extant. Following is an approximate timeline.
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Prehistoric to circa 1500 AD, several tribes were present in the region. Salish oral history and genetic evidence links their Montana presence back 12,000 years. Hence, the Salish likely were the original inhabitants of the land.
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Shoshone expanded into Montana circa 1600. Early adoption of horses gave them dominance over much of Montana until the 18th century.
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The Crow adopted bison culture and controlled the prime hunting grounds in Montana beginning in the 17th century.
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The Blackfoot Confederacy moved south from Canada and by the late 1700s or early 1800s vanquished other tribes from much of Montana.
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The Assiniboine and Gros Ventre tribes consolidated dominance of parts of Montana beginning circa 1770.
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Late arrivals were the Sioux who dominated from circa 1800 onward.
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The Northern Cheyenne arrived in the mid 1800s – migrating westward.
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France owned the land and sold it to the United States in 1803.
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In the 19th century, following the Louisiana Purchase, Americans inhabited much of Montana – acquiring the land via purchase, treaty and conquest.
An accurate land acknowledgment for an event in Montana would be as follows. We are meeting here today on land that is part of the United States of America. The United States purchased the land from France, who took it from the Northern Cheyenne, who took it from the Sioux, who displaced the Assiniboine and Gros Ventre, who in turn vanquished the Blackfeet, who took it from the Crow, who displaced the Shoshone, who conquered the Salish.
Progressive Virtue Signaling
Land acknowledgments are liberal shibboleths intended to reinforce their assumed moral superiority, while offering no real sacrifice on their part and providing no benefit to the acknowledged groups. Land acknowledgments define modern day progressivism – all moral preening and no tangible benefit.
Note: There is no scheduled post next week. The next post will a Columbus Day posting on October 11, 2026. My Columbus Day posts are among the most read and forwarded.
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