Session Approves Land Acknowledgement

De Dakota Makoce. This is Dakota land. Wherever we walk in Mni Sóta Makoce, “the land where the waters reflect the clouds,” we are walking in the footsteps of indigenous people who have long inhabited this land. After a year of reflective study and learning, members of the Indigenous Justice Team presented a Land Acknowledgement Statement to the Session at the September Meeting. It was approved. The short version of the statement will be printed in the Bulletin and read in Worship on a regular basis. It reads as follows:

We gather today on the homeland of the Dakota people. We acknowledge the role Christianity played in removing the Dakota people from their sacred land. We also acknowledge the historical role churches, including our denominations, played in establishing boarding schools designed to erase Indigenous culture. We honor the Dakota, the Anishinaabe, and our other Indigenous neighbors. We pledge to learn from them and to walk in solidarity with them.

The longer, more detailed version of the statement can be found on the church website here. For further information, please see the steps the Indigenous Justice Team has identified for further study, reflection, and action on the Antiracism page of the website.