Land Acknowledgement
Acknowledgment by itself is a small gesture. It becomes meaningful when coupled with authentic relationships and informed action. But this beginning can be an opening to greater public consciousness of Native sovereignty and cultural rights, a step toward equitable relationship and reconciliation. Join us in adopting, calling for, and spreading this practice. Naming is an exercise in power. Who gets the right to name or be named? Whose stories are honored in a name? Whose are erased? Acknowledgment of traditional land is a public statement of the name of the traditional Native inhabitants of a place. It honors their historic relationship with the land.
From the Honor Native Land Guide, U.S. Department of Arts and Culture usdac.us/NativeLand
Land Acknowledgement
It is important to acknowledge that we are in ancestral, traditional and contemporary homelands of the Dakóta. In fact, Minnesota is derived from the Dakóta phrase Mní Sota Makoce, which in Dakóta means Land of the Sky-Tinted Waters. Through the treaties of 1837 and 1851, the U.S. government seized Ojibwe and Dakóta land across Minnesota. Specifically, the treaties of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota in 1851 opened land west of ÈžaÈŸáwakpa/Wakpá TháÅ‹ka (in Dakóta means a Large or Great River), commonly known as the Mississippi River, allowing pioneers to settle in what is now Eden Prairie. We acknowledge Eden Prairie is located on traditional, ancestral and contemporary Dakóta homelands. By offering this statement, we begin the healing process and commit to educating ourselves about the land we are on, recognizing, supporting, collaborating with and advocating for Indigenous People. (source: edenprairie.org)
Resources to Further your Learning
Honor Native Land: A Guide and Call to Acknowledgement
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Information about Line 3, a pipeline set to carry tar sands through northern Minnesota, crossing the Leech Lake and Fond du Lac reservations and the 1855, 1854, and 1842 treaty areas
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Minnesota Historical Society: Learn about Native communities in Minnesota including stories about survival, resiliency, and adaptation.
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