A Land Acknowledgment is a statement adopted by an organization or institution that identifies the original inhabitants and caretakers of a particular place.

Land Acknowledgments celebrate Indigenous survivance, disclose the legacy of settler colonialism, and affirm the historical and ongoing relationship between Native people and the land.

North Carolina is home to the largest Native population east of the Mississippi. UNC needs a Land Acknowledgment!

Students, faculty, and community members developed the following draft. We call upon UNC to refine, vet, and adopt a Land Acknowledgment no later than Indigenous People's Day 2022.

"We acknowledge that the land on which the University of North Carolina stands is the ancestral homeland of Eastern Siouan-speaking Indigenous peoples (Yesàh, “The People”). We honor and acknowledge a commitment to serve the citizens of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Coharie Indian Tribe, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe, the Sappony, the Meherrin Nation, the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, and the Waccamaw-Siouan Tribe, who, along with citizens of other tribal nations, comprise the largest population of Indigenous people in any state east of the Mississippi River."

However, UNC must treat its Land Acknowledgment as one component of a larger action plan to support its Native students, faculty, staff, and community members. Additional action items should include, but are not limited to:

• Center Native UNC in Public-Facing Content: Like other national and international universities committed to their Indigenous communities, UNC should feature information about "Native UNC" on its homepage. Here, UNC should give the state's original communities the space to welcome students, faculty, and visitors to the campus.
• Establish a Research Commission: The University is a direct beneficiary of Indigenous dispossession: Without profit from stolen Indigenous lands, UNC would have gone broke 100 years ago – Scalawag (scalawagmagazine.org). The history of how UNC amassed the land beneath its campus should be rigorously examined, with findings made available to the public.
• Decolonize Campus by Celebrating Indigenous Presence: Erect markers around campus that identify historical and cultural sites of significance. Use these markers to engage the campus community and visitors on a walking tour of Native UNC.

To share your ideas or opportunities for collaboration, contact First Nations Graduate Circle at uncfngc@gmail.com.