We collectively acknowledge that Michigan State University occupies the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary Lands of the Anishinaabeg – Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples. In particular, the University resides on Land ceded in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw. We recognize, support, and advocate for the sovereignty of Michigan’s twelve federally-recognized Indian nations, for historic Indigenous communities in Michigan, for Indigenous individuals and communities who live here now, and for those who were forcibly removed from their Homelands. By offering this Land Acknowledgement, we affirm Indigenous sovereignty and will work to hold Michigan State University more accountable to the needs of American Indian and Indigenous peoples.

Key Terms and Pronunciation

For more information on how to properly use the key terms in MSU's Land Acknowledgement, please view the video below:

What is a Land Acknowledgement?

According to MSU American Indian and Indigenous Studies, a Land Acknowledgement or Land Recognition is a formal statement, often given orally at the beginning of organized events, celebrations, or activities. It recognizes, respects, and affirms that there is an irreducible and ongoing relationship between Indigenous people and the Land. Land Acknowledgements are especially important in contemporary nation-states, like the US and Canada, in which the political structures are based on settler-colonialism and the expropriation of Lands from Indigenous peoples. Land Acknowledgements or Land Recognitions serve to illuminate ongoing Indigenous presence, as well as recognize and counter settler-colonial legacies of violence and Land expropriation.

This Provisional Land Acknowledgement was developed in Binaakwe-giizis // Leaves Falling Moon – October 2018. The Provisional Land Acknowledgement is a living document developed by American Indian and Indigenous Studies and will be further developed and revised in conversation with communities.

Learn more about this land acknowledgement and MSU's history with Indigenous communities here: American Indian and Indigenous Studies