Land Acknowledgement Statement from the ROTEL Grant

As part of the ROTEL Grant’s mission to support the creation, management, and dissemination of culturally-relevant textbooks, we must acknowledge Indigenous Peoples as the traditional stewards of the land, and the enduring relationship that exists between them and their traditional territories. We acknowledge that the boundaries that created Massachusetts were arbitrary and a product of the settlers. We honor the land on which the Higher Education Institutions of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are sited as the traditional territory of tribal nations. We acknowledge the painful history of genocide and forced removal from their territory, and other atrocities connected with colonization. We honor and respect the many diverse indigenous people connected to this land on which we gather, and our acknowledgement is one action we can take to correct the stories and practices that erase Indigenous People’s history and culture.

Identified tribes and/or nations of Massachusetts

Historical nations:

• Mahican
• Mashpee
• Massachuset
• Nauset
• Nipmuc
• Pennacook
• Pocomtuc
• Stockbridge
• Wampanoag

Present-day nations and tribes:

• Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
• Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah
• Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe
• Assawompsett-Nemasket Band of Wampanoags
• Pocasset Wampanoag of the Pokanoket Nation
• Pacasset Wampanoag Tribe
• Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe
• Chappaquiddick Tribe of the Wampanoag Indian Nation
• Nipmuc Nation (Bands include the Hassanamisco, and Natick)
• Nipmuck Tribal Council of Chaubunagungamaug
• Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag

In the event that we have an incorrect link or are missing an existing band/nation, please let us know so that we may correct our error.

Suggested readings:

Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness

A guide to Indigenous land acknowledgment

‘We are all on Native Land: A Conversation about Land Acknowledgements’ YouTube video

Native-Land.ca | Our home on native land (mapping of native lands)

Beyond territorial acknowledgments – âpihtawikosisân

Your Territorial Acknowledgment Is Not Enough