Heal from Invisibility: Land Acknowledgments and an Invitation to Indigenous Narratives
Staff Council is committed to honoring and recognizing the land in which the University of Colorado at Boulder resides and the communities of Indigenous Peoples at the University. We understand the importance of elevating Indigenous voices and strive to authentically acknowledge the Indigenous Peoples and territories of Colorado. We start this journey by including a land acknowledgment on our website.
We lead with responsibility as Staff Council to represent a community of voices at CU and foster an inclusive and socially responsible community of staff, faculty, and students. We invite our council members and constituents of the University to participate in land acknowledgments to reclaim space of 鈥traditional territories and ancestral homelands of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Ute, Apache, Comanche, Kiowa, Lakota, Pueblo and Shoshone Nations. Further, we acknowledge the 48 contemporary tribal nations historically tied to the lands that comprise what is now called Colorado.鈥
As we reside on ancestral lands and seek to honor Indigenous Peoples of the CU community, we must learn about the history weaved into the land, the stories of Indigenous Peoples in our community, and the tribal nations who comprise the traditional territories and homelands of Colorado. To elevate Indigenous voices, we must disrupt and begin a path of healing to resurface Native American history, traditional storytelling, and ancestral knowledge of those most sacred to the land and bloodlines of Indigenous Peoples.听
To truly understand the land in which we reside is to unveil the history and instigate a sense of responsibility of acknowledgment, respect, and honor to Indigenous Peoples and their homelands. Integrating land acknowledgments into spaces and practices of higher learning invites Indigenous perspectives to heal truths of the past and lead with visibility and strength.