During the 2021 Fall Council Meeting's Welcome Reception, Chair Beth Whittenbury conducted a Native land acknowledgment, to recognize the indigenous peoples as the original stewards of the land on which we now live.
November 01, 2021 Fall Council Meeting
Native American Land Acknowledgement
Native Land Acknowledgement
The Civil Rights and Social Justice Section of the American Bar Association acknowledges that Washington, D.C. – where the offices of our Section staff are located and where we would be holding this meeting if we had been able to hold it in-person – is located on the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Piscataway and Anacostan peoples, who have served as stewards of the region for generations. Washington, D.C. is surrounded by just over a dozen tribal nations that thrive along the Anacostia and Potomac River watersheds, Chesapeake Bay area, and the states of Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware. Washington D.C. sits on the ancestral lands of the Anacostans (also documented as Nacotchtank), and the neighboring Piscataway and Pamunkey peoples. We gratefully acknowledge the Native Peoples on whose ancestral homelands we gather, as well as the diverse and vibrant Native communities who make their home here today. We are grateful for their past and continued stewardship of this land. We are committed to supporting the Indigenous members of our community and we celebrate the resilience, strength, and enduring presence of Indigenous people demonstrated around the world.