Water Commission to join work group redrafting Flagstaff land acknowledgment to include water and other elements

Water Commission members agreed at their meeting to join a city work group that will draft a revised Flagstaff land acknowledgment that explicitly recognizes water and other natural elements. The city is forming a commission-driven work group to redraft the land acknowledgment; the group will include representatives from the Indigenous Commission, the Sustainability Commission, the Commission on Diversity Awareness (COTA), the Fire Commission and one member of the Water Commission. The draft will be elevated to city leadership and then to the City Council for final review. The proposed redraft grew from an idea brought to staff by Nicole Antonopoulos after she attended land-acknowledgment presentations in the Midwest. Rose Lehi, Indigenous Affairs Administrator for the city, told the commission that the draft should honor ‘‘the earth, the land, the water, and then the air, and then the fire’’ and that those elements are ‘‘sacred’’ in Indigenous lifeways. Lehi introduced herself and the project, saying, "My name is Rose Lehi, and I am the Indigenous, Affairs Administrator here at the city. And then I also am the staff liaison for the Indigenous Commission." Commission members discussed examples and said the Coconino Plateau Watershed Partnership has already adapted Flagstaff’s land acknowledgment language to emphasize water and reads it at its monthly meetings. Commissioner Jerry Doba said the Water Commission’s representative will be Don Bills, who volunteered: "I guess we have Don Bills from the Water Commission, who's going to be our representative with this group." Rose Lehi confirmed the process will include the Indigenous Commission and other community members as appropriate: "Yes. Through the process, we'll bring it back to the commissions." Discussion: Commissioners asked about the working group’s membership, meeting format and whether the text would be similar to the Minnesota example read by Lehi. Staff and commissioners said the work group has not yet met and that meetings can be held in person or virtually. Staff emphasized the drafting will be commission-driven and that the final product will be elevated to council for approval. Direction and next steps: The commission appointed (by volunteer) a Water Commission representative to the work group and asked staff to include the listed commissions and Indigenous Commission members; staff will return drafts to participating commissions before elevating a final recommendation to City Council. No formal motion or council vote on a final text occurred at this meeting. Ending: Commissioners and staff said they will bring drafts back to the commissions and city leadership for additional review and that staff will circulate existing examples (including the Coconino Plateau Watershed Partnership text) for the working group to consider.