tribal land acknowledgement
TRANSCRIPT
Tribal Land Acknowledgement
Our Vision is every South Whidbey School District student is a lifelong
learner who is multi-culturally engaged, literate, and an active
community member able to meet the challenges of our global society. Our Mission is in collaboration with our community, every student will
be supported to be a resilient, innovative, compassionate, and
productive graduate prepared for a diverse and dynamic world.
WHY INTRODUCE THE PRACTICE OF LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT? https://usdac.us/nativeland
● Offer recognition and respect.● Counter the “doctrine of discovery”
with the true story of the people who were already here.
● Create a broader public awareness of the history that has led to this moment.
● Begin to repair relationships with Native communities and with the land.
WHY INTRODUCE THE PRACTICE OF LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT? https://usdac.us/nativeland
● Support larger truth-telling and reconciliation efforts.
● Remind people that colonization is an ongoing process, with Native lands still occupied due to deceptive and broken treaties.
● Take a cue from Indigenous protocol, opening up space with reverence and respect.
● Inspire ongoing action and relationships.
WHY INTRODUCE THE PRACTICE OF LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT? https://usdac.us/nativeland
Alone, acknowledgment is a small gesture. It becomes
meaningful when coupled with authentic relationships and
informed action.
But this can be an opening to greater public consciousness of Native sovereignty and cultural rights, a step toward equitable relationship and reconciliation.
574 Federal Tribes. Hundreds More.
29 Federally Recognized Tribes in Washington State.Most have territories that extend beyond state borders.
Interactive Native Lands Map
https://native-land.ca/
RESPECT
Dxʷlilap - TulalipWe acknowledge the original inhabitants of this place, the Ssduhubr (sdo-ho-bsh) people and their successors the Tulalip Tribes, who since time immemorial have hunted, fished, gathered, and taken care of these lands. We respect their sovereignty, their right to self-determination, and we honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and water.
We honor our ancestors representing the four aboriginal bands, Swinomish, Samish, Lower Skagit, and Kikiallus, who joined together to form the present day Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. In 1855, Swinomish and 81 other tribes gathered at Múckl-te-óh (Mukilteo, Washington) to sign the Treaty of Point Elliott.
Swədəbš - Swinomish
RESPECTSuquamish
“Every part of this soil is sacred in the estimation of my people. Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove, has been hallowed by some sad or happy event in days long vanished.”
- Chief Seattle 1854
We would like to begin by acknowledging that the land on which we gather is within the aboriginal territory of the suq̀ʷabš “People of Clear Salt Water” (Suquamish People). Expert fisherman, canoe builders and basket weavers, the suq̀ʷabš live in harmony with the lands and waterways along Washington’s Central Salish Sea as they have for thousands of years. Here, the suq̀ʷabš live and protect the land and waters of their ancestors for future generations as promised by the Point Elliot Treaty of 1855.
In 1855, the population resided on the main branch of the river, as well as the north and south forks. The name Stillaguamish, under various spellings, has been used since 1850 to refer to people who lived along the Stillaguamish River and camped along its tributaries.
They were a party to the treaty of Point Elliott of January 22, 1855, under the spelling Stoluck-wa-mish. No separate reservation was established for the Stoluck-wa-mish Indians. Some moved to the Tulalip Reservation, but the majority remained in the aboriginal area along the Stillaguamish River.
Stillaguamish
South Whidbey School District would like to begin by acknowledging that we gather on the ancestral homelands, originally known as Tscha-kole-chy in
Lushootseed, of the Coastal Salish Peoples, on the lands of the lower sqaǰətabš (Skagit), dxʷlilap (Tulalip), swədəbš (Swinomish), sduhubš
(Snohomish), stuləkʷabš (Stillaguamish), and suq̓ʷabš (Suquamish), who have lived in the Salish Sea basin since time immemorial and have hunted, fished, gathered, and taken care of these lands. We respect their sovereignty, their
right to self-determination, and we honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and water.
Please join me in expressing our deepest respect and gratitude to the indigenous people of this territory and for their enduring care and
protection of the land in which we currently occupy and share through the Treaty of Point Elliott signed by 82 tribes in Múckl-te-óh (Mukilteo) on
January 22, 1855.
November is Native American Heritage Month and
November 27, 2020 is Native American Heritage Day
“ʔəshəliʔ ti txʷəlšucid”, “Lushootseed Is Alive” by Calina Lawrence of the Suquamish Nation