Guide to Land Acknowledgements

A land acknowledgement is an optional statement, often given at the beginning of organized events, celebrations and activities, or published in printed materials. A shortened land acknowledgement can also be used for email signatures.

The purpose of a land acknowledgement is to recognize, respect and affirm the ongoing relationship between Indigenous people and the land. Land acknowledgements also raise awareness about the Indigenous histories, perspectives and experiences that are often suppressed or forgotten.

See additional information on land acknowledgements from the American Indian and Indigenous Studies program in the MSU College of Arts and Letters.

Giving a Land Acknowledgement

There are hundreds of Indigenous communities across the United States. Giving a land acknowledgement requires research and reflection to understand the historical and contemporary Indigenous communities and their relationship with the land. A land acknowledgement can be a few sentences or several pages. It is important the statement honors and names the communities, and recognizes the occupied or unceded nature and history of the land.

Although land acknowledgements are powerful statements, they are only meaningful when they are coupled with authentic and sustained relationships with Indigenous communities and community-informed actions.

More information about MSU Indigenous communities and resources can be found through these organizations and programs.

MSU Native American Institute
American Indian and Indigenous Studies through the College of Arts and Letters
Indigenous Law and Policy Center through the College of Law
MSU Extension: Tribal Extension and Education resources
Educating Anishnaabe: Giving, Learning and Empowering (EAGLE) faculty and staff association at MSU

MSU Land Acknowledgement

The MSU Native American Institute provides a land acknowledgement for the university based to raise awareness about the Indigenous histories, perspectives and experiences that took place before Michigan State University.

Indian-encampment-site-MSU-campus-trees — The People’s Park courtyard area between Wells Hall, Erickson Hall and the International Center, which is the location of the Indian encampment site on the campus of Michigan State University.

Land Acknowledgement for Michigan State University

“Michigan State University occupies the ancestral, traditional and contemporary lands of the Anishinaabeg – Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi peoples. In particular, the university resides on land ceded in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw. We recognize Michigan’s 12 federally recognized Native Nations, historic Indigenous communities in Michigan, Indigenous individuals and communities who live here now, and those who were forcibly removed from their homelands. In offering this land acknowledgement, we affirm Indigenous sovereignty, history and experiences.”