Do indigenous Australians actually like the acknowledgement of country or is it a slap in the face?
New to Australia but I've sat through about ten acknowledgements of country thus far and looks like I'm in for many more. I'm always a cynic so it just sounds very trite and banal to me, and coming from a country with US bases on its land I'd blow my top off if Americans on base said we were "traditional owners" of the base because we're actual owners, we never consented to being whatever a "traditional owner" is, sounds like a different way to say victim of theft of land.
"Reconciliation" makes it sound like there was some mutual fight going on, but you would never say to a victim of a crime that they need to reconcile with the perpetrator because the onus is on the one who committed the crime, right?
But hey maybe indigenous people do appreciate this gesture and the fact that people give this some thought. Maybe people are being heartfelt and not performative and I'm being some kind of Scrooge.
EDIT: Well, I learned a lot from everyone's reactions, but most of all from those who said they were Indigenous. While many said they don't like it, many also said they do. I appreciate the varied reactions and most of all those who contributed some new knowledge I didn't know before. I want to emphasize that I did not mean this post as some racist dog-whistle. Rather, I felt inundated with ingenuine acknowledgements of country and was wondering what it actually does for ATSI people. I still think it's better for those who complain about the means but not sentiment to put their money and actions where their mouth is, including me. If anyone has any suggestions for how I can do that, my DMs are open. Also fish pics. I like those.