Gratitude: Resource acknowledgement

Similarly to the land acknowledgment statement that is commonly practiced now in some of the countries in the world (a land acknowledgment statement is a formal expression recognizing and respecting the traditional Indigenous inhabitants of a particular land or territory), we want to propose the notion of the resource acknowledgment statement to be implemented as part of the preface or ending notes of events (both small-scale gatherings and large-scale events). In comparison to land acknowledgment statements, the resource acknowledgment statement allows for a moment of gratitude regardless of where you are and with whom you share the space, expressing gratitude for the history of the place and the material and non-material resources that enable the group to gather. This allows for the moment of appreciation to be incorporated and added to the land acknowledgment statements where appropriate. Additionally, the resource acknowledgment statement can be seen as a form of short meditation, almost like metta meditation (metta is a loving-kindness meditation practices within contemplative traditions), where we can learn to notice the resources that have allowed us to be where we are, while also tracing the resource chain that was rendered invisible (labor, material resources, energy, environmental resources, etc.) in the process of formation. This approach also allows for a moment to slow down and truly look deeper into the objects that surround us, into our food, and be grateful for the things we have, acknowledging the cost at which these came to us, along with all the contributing living organisms that enabled us to have them.

If resource acknowledgment is approached with a grain of research, then this method can become a tremendously enriching ceremony as different localities have different stories of resources that can be shared within the group (at times these are difficult but needed to be acknowledged stories of materials, production chains and resources). The ceremony of offering space for people from diverse backgrounds and contexts to read their versions of looking deeper into resources at hand would allow for the translocal knowledge to be shared.

Published 01/06/2024