IUP Land and Complex History Acknowledgment Statement
Indiana University of Pennsylvania occupies lands originally inhabited by the Lenape, Shawnee, and Hodinöhšönih—the Six Nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Onödowága:’, Cayuga, and Tuscarora).
We acknowledge that this land has long served as a site of meeting and exchange among Indigenous peoples including the Osage, Erie, Iroquois, Lenape, Munsee, Shawnee, Allegany, and the Susquehannock tribal nations. We acknowledge the painful history of genocide and forced removal from this place, and honor and respect the many diverse Indigenous peoples still connected to this land. We acknowledge that this place was founded upon exclusion and erasures of many Indigenous peoples. The purpose of land acknowledgements is to recognize and remember the violent histories and legacies of settler colonialism. Today, we work to weave connections and create coalitions for justice. In so doing, we also acknowledge the labor and sacrifice of those who built up this land and our nation, and we acknowledge the ideas of thinkers who came before us and upon whose insights and actions we can continue to build.
- Statement developed by the IUP Native American Awareness Council