In acknowledging histories of the land where we live, we start by asking the following questions (based on this guide):
* Why is this acknowledgement happening?
* How does this acknowledgement relate to the work of our library?
* What is the history of this territory? What are the impacts of colonialism here?
* What is our relationship to this territory? How did the College come to be here?
* How can we recognize our own positionalities?
* What intentions do we have to disrupt and dismantle colonialism beyond this territory acknowledgement?
* Potentially problematic language: words like "reconciliation" might carry baggage of Christian conversion, and also needs to be carefully unpacked. "Decolonization" might suggest that you are prioritizing your institution's place in the process, and you should ask whether your institution's efforts at decolonizing itself should be secondary to current efforts at building a more equitable future.
This conversation needs to be prefaced by an acknowledgment that land acknowledgements are often made by, and are directed towards, non-Native peoples who may be unaware of the full complexities of received histories and much needed corrections. We hope that this research guide might help us meaningfully engage with these questions.
Land acknowledgments are not acts of self-granted absolution.There are many indigenous peoples living in New York City, to here and from other lands. Land acknowledgements should not be performative, virtue signaling, statements.
**Please review the important questions and advice via this post from Radical Copyeditor (2023).**
"White man, hear me! History, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do. It could scarcely be otherwise, since it is to history that we owe our frames of reference, our identities, and our aspirations. And it is with great pain and terror that one begins to realize this. In great pain and terror one begins to assess the history which has placed one where one is and formed one's point of view. In great pain and terror because, therefore, one enters into battle with that historical creation, Oneself, and attempts to recreate oneself according to a principle more humane and more liberating; one begins the attempt to achieve a level of personal maturity and freedom which robs history of its tyrannical power, and also changes history." [Baldwin, J. (1985). White Man's Guilt. In Selected Articles from The Price of the Ticket: Collected Nonfiction 1948-1985 (pp. 115-120). New York, NY: St. Martin's Marek. Retrieved from Black Thought and Culture database.]
Let us start a dialogue. Contact us with comments or questions at refhelp@lagcc.cuny.edu.
[img src: https://usdac.us/nativeland]
LaGuardia Community College Library is situated on thee homeland of the Lenape (Lenapehoking) and we need to engage with the history of genocide and forced removal that the peoples of the First Nations have experienced. The Lenape are a diasporic people (which includes five federally recognized tribes -The Delaware Nation, The Delaware Tribe of Indians, Stockbridge–Munsee Community, Munsee-Delaware Nation, and Moravian of the Thames First Nation; and the five state recognized Delaware Bay tribes in New Jersey and Delaware) that continues to live here in close connection with their land. This is is a living acknowledgement that recognizes that New York City has one of the largest urban Native American and Indigenous populations in the United States.
The names seen in the texts and media in this guide need to be understood as being used by authors, communities, and organizations from different historical contexts.
In the United States, indigenous peoples and communities were referred to in objectionable ways that carried the weight of historical violence. Naming is problematic. There is no single consensus on how to summarily refer to the diverse communities that live on lands whose boundaries and borders do not necessarily follow those set up by colonization. In general, it is considered most appropriate to refer to specific tribal names or networks. In early 21st century usage, Native American and American Indian are used frequently. (See this entry for more information.)
In Canada, First Nations has been a generally used collective term, although indigenous peoples is considered more inclusive of other peoples such as the Inuit.
Native New Yorkers by Connollly, Colleen. "The True Native New Yorkers Can Never Truly Reclaim Their Homeland." Smithsonian Magazine. 05 October 2018.
Santos Briones, Cinthya. and Magnum Foundation. "Indigenous Cultures Take Root in New York." The Nation. 08 December 2020.
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This video accompanies #HonorNativeLand—a guide and call-to-action to spread the practice of acknowledgment of traditional Native lands at the opening of all public gatherings. See U.S. Department of Arts and Culture Guide and Call to Acknowledgment for more info.
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Nikater, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons; See Metoac for more info
From Wikitongues, 20 October 2013 [VIDEO - 00:009:33] "WIKITONGUES: Jerry speaking English and Cherokee -
VIDEO (59:21) "PACSCL marks National Native American Heritage Month in 2021 with a special event intended to nurture archives’ & libraries’ commitments towards serving Indigenous communities. “Land Acknowledgments & Beyond” is a two-part event. This video documents the first session, held on November 9, 2021. Curtis Zunigha (Lenape/Delaware), Cultural Director for the Delaware Tribe of Indians in Oklahoma and a Co-Director of Lenape Center in Manhattan, spoke about Living Land Acknowledgements as one part of an ongoing process of understanding history and decolonizing institutions."
LaGuardia Community College Library Guides are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This LibGuide was based on History Unbound: First Nations of New York, South Central Regional Library Council . The compilation of these resources was made as part of the History Unbound Project. History Unbound, the workshop and website, is a project of the South Central Regional Library Council and is sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Eastern Region Program, coordinated by Waynesburg University. Thanks also to Jean Amaral at Borough of Manhattan Community College for sharing what was learned at a land acknowledgement workshop led by a Lenape organization.
MLA Citation: "First Nations of New York" LaGuardia Community College Library Research Guides. LaGuardia Community College, CUNY. Last Date Updated. Date Accessed.
We welcome any additions or corrections: contact Ann Matsuuchi, amatsuuchi@lagcc.cuny.edu, LaGuardia Community College Library