Land Acknowledgement

A Land Acknowledgment is a formal statement that recognizes and respects Indigenous Peoples as traditional stewards of this land and the enduring relationship that exists between Indigenous Peoples and their traditional territories.

 

The University of California, Irvine, campus is located on the homelands of the Kizh (Gabrieleño), Acjachemen (Juaneño) and Payómkawichum (Luiseño) peoples, who are the original stewards of the land colonially known as Irvine, California. This region extends from the Santa Ana River to Aliso Creek and beyond. 

 

As a land grant institution member, we acknowledge these Indigenous Peoples as traditional land caretakers who, in the face of settler colonialism, continue to claim their place and act as stewards to protect their ancestral lands as they have for the past 8,000 years. Additionally, these lands have been shaped by Latino, Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipino and Chinese laborers who have built roads and railroads and worked California crop fields, as well as the African Americans in the Civilian Conservation Corps that helped make (southern) California National Parks what they are today.

 

Please take a moment to consider and acknowledge the colonial devastation of stolen land, genocide, and forced labor that founded much of the social and economic infrastructure upon which we currently live, work and prosper. We also consider the many legacies of violence, displacement, migration and settlement that bring us here today.

 

UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts recognizes and respects Indigenous Peoples and the enduring relationship between them and their traditional territories. It is essential for the UCI and the community to acknowledge this history as the first step towards honoring the native people and beginning the healing process.

 

Today, this meeting place is home to many Indigenous Peoples from all over the world, including UCI faculty, students and staff. We respectfully honor and recognize the original and current caretakers of this land, water, and air: The Kizh, Acjachemen and Payómkawichum peoples and all their ancestors and descendants, past, present and future. We are grateful to have the opportunity to live and work on these homelands.

 

 

The website Native Land helps identify the land of indigenous people from around the world, wherever you might be located. Our recognition is an expression of gratitude and appreciation and is intended to honor the indigenous people living and working on this land from time immemorial. Click here for more information.

 

Information for our acknowledgment is informed and inspired by efforts made throughout UCI and other related cultural institutions, including the Kizh Nation – Gabrielino Band of Mission Indians public information, UCI Libraries, Sue and Bill Gross School of Nursing, UCI Sustainability Resource Center, and UC Riverside Native American Student Programs land acknowledgment.

Image: Aerial view of central campus, April 1964. (Courtesy of UCI Libraries Special Collections & Archives, http://hdl.handle.net/10575/5304)