Land Acknowledgement
Land Acknowledgement Statement for the ROTEL Grant
As part of 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, Natick)
- Nipmuck Tribal Council of Chaubunagungamaug
- Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag
At the time of publication, the links above were all active.
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
This land acknowledgement was based on the land acknowledgement of the Digital Commonwealth.
Author Land and Labor Acknowledgement: Fitchburg State University
The Fitchburg State University Community recognizes historical injustices. We acknowledge the legacy of the ancestral homelands and traditional territories of Indigenous Peoples from which they were dispossessed. We are cognizant that we cannot separate the history of our university or our community from the history of colonialism and slavery in the United States.
We recognize and honor the members of the Algonquian Peoples: Nipmuc, Pennacook, and Wabanaki Confederacy, whose ancestral land we now call the Fitchburg State University campus. We also acknowledge the removal of these peoples from this area and the systemic erasure of their complex and unique history.
We acknowledge the heritage of the African and Caribbean diaspora. We acknowledge the reality of slavery and forced labor that built this area.
The legacy of colonialism and slavery persists today as we continue to work towards racial justice, equity, inclusion, liberation, and community, and strive to dismantle the oppressive social systems interwoven into the fabric of our national and regional heritage.
