Land Acknowledgement

I acknowledge that I live and work on the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary lands of the Anishinaabe people, The Three Fire Confederacy of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi people, where Ann Arbor, Michigan now stands. I recognize their ongoing connection to this land, their culture, and their history. I honor and respect the Anishinaabe people, their elders both past and present, as well as future generations. I also acknowledge the other Indigenous nations who have lived and cared for this land including the Huron, Odawa, and Potawatomi people. I continue to strive to learn more about the histories and present-day lives of Indigenous peoples, the history of genocide, ethnic cleansing, stolen lands, and broken treaties with the Indigenous peoples of this land. I advocate for indigenous struggles against ongoing colonization and pledge to support a decolonized future.

Anishinaabeg gaa bi dinokiiwaad temigad manda Michigan Kichi Kinoomaagegamig.  Mdaaswi nshwaaswaak shi mdaaswi shi niizhawaaswi gii-sababoonagak, Ojibweg, Odawaag, minwaa Bodwe’aadamiig wiiba gii-miigwenaa’aa maamoonjiniibina Kichi Kinoomaagegamigoong wi pii-gaa aanjibiigaadeg Kichi-Naakonigewinning, debendang manda aki, mampii Niisaajiwan, gewiinwaa niijaansiwaan ji kinoomaagaazinid.  Daapanaming ninda kidwinan, megwaa minwaa gaa bi aankoosejig zhinda akiing minwaa gii-miigwewaad Kichi-Kinoomaagegamigoong aanji-daapinanigaade minwaa mshkowenjigaade.

The University of Michigan is located on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe people.  In 1817, the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Bodewadami Nations made the largest single gift to the early University, when they ceded land through the Treaty at the Foot of the Rapids so that their children could be educated. Through these words of acknowledgment, their contemporary and ancestral ties to the land and their contributions to the University are renewed and reaffirmed.