Milwaukee, where I live, sits on unceded territory in the traditional Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk and Menominee homeland along the southwest shores of Michigami (Lake Michigan), where the Milwaukee, Menominee and Kinnickinnic rivers meet. It is also where the people of Wisconsin’s sovereign Anishinaabe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Oneida and Mohican nations remain.
#HonorNativeLand asks us to acknowledge the native peoples of this land. Acknowledgement “can be an opening to greater public consciousness of Native sovereignty and cultural rights, a step toward equitable relationship and reconciliation.”
In Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as among tribal nations in the United States, it is common practice and often policy to open gatherings by acknowledging the indigenous inhabitant of that land. In the U.S. this is not common.
In 2021 President Biden, became the first U.S. President to issue a proclamation marking Indigenous Peoples’ Day as well as Columbus Day. "Today, we acknowledge the significant sacrifices made by Native peoples to this country — and recognize their many ongoing contributions to our Nation." He went on to say, in part, “Today, we also acknowledge the painful history of wrongs and atrocities that many European explorers inflicted on Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities.”
On Indigenous Peoples’ Day join me in acknowledging the peoples of the first nations of this land, their sovereignty and their cultural rights. To learn more about the rich and truthful history of Native peoples visit #HonorNativeLand.
Jean