Decolonize the University

What is a Land Acknowledgement?

A Land Acknowledgement or Land Recognition is a formal statement, often given orally at the beginning of organized events, celebrations, or activities. It recognizes, respects, and affirms that there is an irreducible and ongoing relationship between Indigenous people and the Land. Land Acknowledgements are especially important in contemporary nation-states, like the US and Canada, in which the political structures are based on settler-colonialism and theft of Lands from Indigenous peoples. Land Acknowledgements or Land Recognitions serve to illuminate ongoing Indigenous presence, as well as recognize and counter settler-colonial legacies of violence and Land expropriation.

Land Acknowledgements are a responsibility.

We respect the desire to recognize the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary stewards of the Land. However, we ask that when offering a Land Acknowledgement, remember that these Acknowledgements must be preceded by relationships with living Indigenous people, communities, and nations. This declaration must then be followed with ongoing commitments to these same communities. Land Acknowledgements are a responsibility.

Go beyond acknowledging.

When you give or hear a land acknowledgement from the stolen lands on which Michigan State University resides, consider making a donation to the American Indian & Indigenous Studies program. These funds will be used for Indigenous programming at MSU and within the local community. Learn more at aiis.msu.edu/donate/