Acknowledgement of Country

As a child, at the start of the school day I had to put my hand on my heart, look at the American flag, and say the pledge of allegiance. We all stood on command,  got in patriotic position, and recited in our earnest voices "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nations under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." I thought nothing of this activity at the time but when I think about it now it makes me feel a little funny. Should my allegiance be to a country? Maybe? Justice for all sounds wonderful. Is mixing concepts of god and patriotism a bit much?  The truth is, although I can't express clearly why, if someone asked me to pledge my allegiance to a flag right now I would hesitate and feel uncomfortable. 

When I helped Zadie with her homeschooling these past few months I learned that she too has a phrase she recited at the start of every class. She knows it by heart and becomes earnest and gleamy eyed when she recites it. Except that it is way better. And as the weeks have evolved it has made me realize what it is that has always left me unsettled about my patriotic mutterings as a youth. If we are patriotic to a flag where does that leave us in terms of humanity and nature? For anyone who is familiar with the Australian acknowledgement of land you will soon see that what Zadie recites is a revised version of having the students acknowledge the land and give respect to the original owners. This process in itself I believe is a humbling message for children. And adults. Except the revised version by Zadie's school is much more than acknowledging land - it is solidifying our role and responsibilities to nature. It has made me realize that we should all look down and pledge our allegiance to the land.  But I will leave you to read her recitation and draw your own conclusions:

Here is the land. 

Here is the sky. 

Here are my friends. 

And here am I. 

We come together on Ngunnawal land, 

And recognize the Ngunnawal 

People of Australia who care for 

this land and each other. 

We recognize those before us

and the children who will grow

up to be Elders.

We promise to look after the

environment and each other. 

This baby whale was having a grand time leaping and splshing while its mother swam beside (white smudge in the water to the left is the mother)

Zadie's first written story

Zadie discovering chapter books

Came across this while going through papers: not sure if Tova blossomed in preschool or suffered