CFAES Give Today
SENR

School of Environment and Natural Resources

CFAES

Indigenous Land Acknowledgement

Indigenous Land Acknowledgement

ohi:yo':

Indigenous Land Acknowledgement

The School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR) holds great respect for the land and original peoples of the area where The Ohio State University campus is located. The land that The Ohio State University occupies is the ancestral and contemporary territory of the Shawnee, Potawatomi, Delaware, Miami, Peoria, Seneca, Wyandotte, Ojibwe, and Cherokee peoples. The name “Ohio” itself is derived from the Iroquois “ohi:yo’” – the great river. The university resides on land ceded in the 1795 Treaty of Greeneville and the forced removal of tribes through the Indian Removal Act of 1830. As we strive to honor the resiliency of these tribal nations and recognize the historical contexts that have and continue to affect American Indians, we recognize that we are visitors and hope to become gracious guests that honor Indigenous past, present, and future.

We also explicitly recognize that this acknowledgement is only a small step in assuming the responsibilities and obligations of being settlers in this land that include research, reflection, and developing relationships of reciprocity with Indigenous peoples.

Through our teaching, research, and outreach endeavors we commit to justice in all its forms, including working to deconstruct false colonial ideologies of the superiority and privilege of Western thought and approaches. The work we need to accomplish towards reconciliation with Indigenous peoples is a long-term journey, and will be constantly evolving for SENR.

To learn more about tribal connections to the lands on which we find ourselves, the dispossession of lands and removal of Indigenous peoples, and ways to connect with tribal partners in efforts that move beyond land acknowledgements, visit the following resources:

To explore the actions we are taking around our commitment to and connections with Indigenous Peoples and Tribes/Nations, please see Initiatives & Activities here.