A criticism often made of land acknowledgements is that they amount to little more than virtue signalling. They’re seen by some as purely performative gestures that make those uttering them feel good, but do little to improve the lives of Indigenous people.

A look at several recent initiatives under B.C.’s NDP government suggests that land acknowledgements can be scrutinized on the opposite grounds: that they represent a serious perspective that results in real policies premised on the notion that non-Indigenous people are “uninvited guests” in their own country.