Heritage Unitarian Universalist Land Acknowledgment 1
Today we stand on the ancestral lands of the Hopewell, Adena, Kaskaskia, Osage, Wyandotte, Shawnee, and Myaamia Nations and others whose names are not known to us. We honor those peoples who stewarded this land for countless generations.
Many nations were removed unjustly by the U.S. government. We continue to be the beneficiaries of that removal through the ongoing legacies of settler colonialism. Today’s indigenous peoples are actively striving to maintain and revitalize their traditional ways and language.
We affirm that Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church, as part of the Unitarian Universalist Association, has joined the growing list of faith communities who wholly reject the premise of the Doctrine of Discovery, which, from the 15th century to the present, provided a legal and religious framework for sanctioning the brutal conquest and colonization of indigenous lands and people.
We are committed to taking a deep look at the ways our society has justified colonialism, domination, slavery, and the genocide of indigenous people.
For further information on the cultures and issues referenced in the above land acknowledgement, see the list of associated websites below.
Hopewell: https://www.nps.gov/hocu/index.htm
Kaskaskia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaskaskia
Osage: https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov
Adena: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adena_culture
Wyandotte: https://wyandotte-nation.org
Shawnee: https://shawnee-nsn.gov
Myaamia: https://www.miamination.com
Today’s indigenous peoples: https://urbannativecollective.org
Doctrine of Discovery: https://www.uua.org/multiculturalism/racial-justice/dod
- Adopted March 2024 by the Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church Board of Trustees ↩︎
Image source: photography by Mimi Sinclair of HUUC’s nature trail