Advent Land Acknowledgement

My theme for this first week of Advent is to "Cherish and care for the earth", and I do that most often with my own little patch of earth: I garden organically, and create habitat for native plants, insects, and birds. I honor the seasons. I live as sustainably as possible, and I work against climate change.

I've thought a lot about this valley, it's history, and what brought my family here. My nuclear family's heritage is English, French, Dutch, German, Swiss, Norwegian, and Slavic. Some of my family came to North America with the first pilgrim ships. We moved west steadily, and came to Oregon as early as 1888. My mother's family were mostly farmers and loggers here in the Willamette Valley, and my father's family settled further north.

My home is on the traditional land of the Kalapuya people, from whom it was forcibly taken. I need to know more about the indigenous people to whom this land rightly belongs, and find ways to offer reparations.

Agenda: 

1. Research the Kalapuya

2. Write an Indigenous land acknowledgement letter

3. Thank you letter

4. Pay rent

1. Research the Kalapuya:

The band of Kalapuyans who lived near me, and maybe camped in my backyard sometimes, was the Chelamela. They were wanderers, hunters and gatherers, peaceful for the most part. Each year I learn a little more about the Kalapuya, this valley, indigenous place names, and the correct pronunciation for the names. 

In Kalapuyan, the month of December is Gumpyausyan – Winter Came -- and rain is Umtáktufit.

2. Write a land acknowledgement letter:

Last year I was looking for a way to recognize and show respect for those indigenous people who lived here before us, and I stumbled onto the Native Governance site for writing Indigenous Land Acknowledgements, a formal statement that recognizes and respects Indigenous Peoples as traditional stewards of this land and the enduring relationship that exists between Indigenous Peoples and their traditional territories.

“To recognize the land is an expression of gratitude and appreciation to those whose territory you reside on, and a way of honoring the Indigenous people who have been living and working on the land from time immemorial. It is important to understand the longstanding history that has brought you to reside on the land, and to seek to understand your place within that history. Land acknowledgements do not exist in a past tense, or historical context: colonialism is a current ongoing process, and we need to build our mindfulness of our present participation.” (Northwestern University)

Tips from the Native Governance Center:

Use appropriate language. Don’t sugarcoat the past. Use terms like genocide, ethnic cleansing, stolen land, and forced removal to reflect actions taken by colonizers.

Use past, present, and future tenses. Indigenous people are still here, and they’re thriving. Don’t treat them as a relic of the past.

Land acknowledgments shouldn’t be grim. They should function as living celebrations of Indigenous communities. Ask yourself, “How am I leaving Indigenous people in a stronger, more empowered place because of this land acknowledgment?” Focus on the positivity of who Indigenous people are today.

Understand displacement and how that plays into land acknowledgment. Land acknowledgment is complicated. Remember that the United States government displaced many Tribes from land before treaties were signed.

3. Thank You Letter:

This fall, my Climate Revolutions group dedicated a community ride to this area’s first people - the Kalapuya - and their descendants, to acknowledge their environmental ethics, and recognize the land they have lived, hunted, and fished on for thousands of years. I wrote and read this letter of thanks:

This land acknowledgement is an expression of gratitude and appreciation to those whose territory we reside on, and also our sorrow for the genocide and removal, and the ongoing racism and discrimination they have suffered.

 

The Kalapuya people were dispossessed of their indigenous homeland by the US government between 1851 and 1855, and forcibly removed. Today, descendants are citizens of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon, and continue to make important contributions in their communities.

 

Indigenous peoples all around the world are uniquely vulnerable to impacts of the climate crisis due to their dependence upon, and close relationship, with the environment and its resources. The environmental impacts (and some of the proposed solutions) to climate change threaten their ways of life, lands rights, future growth, and cultural survivability.

 

Today we acknowledge that indigenous people are the leaders we should follow: Countless Tribal Nations, water protectors, land defenders, and pipeline fighters, have dedicated their lives to defending the sacredness of Mother Earth. They have developed highly effective campaigns of non-violent direct action, political lobbying, multimedia, and divestment. 

 

For this we thank them.

 

4. Pay rent:

I know that writing this letter is only a starting place. I need to find ways to take action all through the year to support the Indigenous community. 

My friend Jill had an idea: She plans to pay one percent of her property tax each year to a local Tribe, as rent for their ancestral lands. I can do that!