Michigan Dems’ woke ‘land acknowledgment’ goes awry as speaker flubs tribe names

LANSING, Mich. — A woke stunt went horribly wrong at Sunday’s Democratic Party Nominating Convention in Michigan as a top official opened the event with a brutal attempt at a “land acknowledgment.”

“I am here to offer our land acknowledgment,” said Portia Roberson, the vice chair of the state’s party, at the outset of the afternoon gathering of Democrats. “Our land acknowledgments in Michigan recognize the state as the ancestral, traditional and contemporary land of the Anishinaabe, Three Fires Confederacy — “

But she was cut off after an incorrect pronunciation of Anishinaabe when several audience members began shouting the correct pronunciation at Roberson, to which she replied, “Say it again for me.”

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“Stand up,” Roberson then told a woman wearing a white t-shirt in the crowd. “You do it better than me. Make it — I’m big on names being pronounced right, so make sure I get it right.”

The audience member then repeated the pronunciation of the word Anishinaabe until Roberson successfully mimicked it into the microphone.

“Thank you. Wait, don’t sit down yet,” she told the convention-goer. “I might get another one wrong. You may have to correct me, and I want to get this right.”

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She then picked up where she left off.

“Including the Odawa, Ottawa, Ojibwe, Chippewa and … Potawatomi,” she said, sparking another round of audience shouting with a mispronunciation of the last tribe.

Signage is displayed during the unity-themed Michigan Democratic Party’s 2026 nominating convention in Lansing, Mich., on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. Since scoring a surprise victory in the Michigan Democratic primary, progressive Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is trying to push toward the middle to reach the more moderate electorate in a must-win state for the party in November. (Sarah Rice/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“See, usually I rehearse before I come out. This time I rushed it and I didn’t rehearse. I apologize,” Roberson admitted before exiting the stage.

The Democratic Party of Michigan did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment about the land acknowledgment or Roberson’s pronunciation mishaps.

Land acknowledgments have become a woke ritual for those aiming to placate the far-left by recognizing where an event is held or institution is located is on land that was originally inhabited by Indigenous people — with the implication that the land was ‘stolen’ from them.

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The convention room inside the Lansing Center, where the event was held over the weekend, was about half-full as Michigan’s Democratic nominees for statewide office paraded onto the stage one-by-one.

Each gave a brief speech surrounded by supporters holding campaign memorabilia.

The convention’s largest draw was embattled Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive who mostly lashed out at President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance over economic issues, and stumped for socialized healthcare.

Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks to members of the media ahead of the Michigan Democratic Party’s 2026 nominating convention in Lansing, Mich., on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. (Sarah Rice/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Trump was also invoked by several of the candidates.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is running for governor, Michigan Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, Benson’s nominee for lieutenant governor and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, a software engineer who is running for Secretary of State, were a few of the major attractions of the convention.

“When I’m secretary of state, your data will belong to you,” he said, “not the federal government.”

Brinks focused her ire on Rep. John James, R-Mich.

“Time and time again, James has made it clear that he is not fighting for the people of Michigan,” she said. “He’s fighting for Donald Trump.”

Gilchrist said he’d protect Michiganders’ data from the federal government, which is seeking voter rolls in several states.