In the past year, Utah State University introduced a series of “land acknowledgement” statements to be read before events or used in presentations, as a show of respect to the Indigenous peoples who were the original inhabitants of the lands the university uses. I applaud this.
I am hopeful that later this month when we return to Maverik Stadium to see the Mountain West Champion Aggies take on Connecticut — and at all events following throughout the year — we will hear the land acknowledgement. As a white person descended from pioneers who invaded land that was occupied by the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone, I am grateful for the opportunity to have a solemn reminder that we are guests on the land that was inhabited long before us — lands that have a sacred history.
I humbly ask that VP of Athletics John Hartwell and President Noelle Cockett prioritize making the land acknowledgement a regular part of all athletic events.
The Logan-campus statement reads as follows:
“We recognize that Utah State University in Logan resides on the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary lands of the Sihivigoi (Willow Valley) of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation. The university resides on land ceded in the 1863 Treaty at Fort Bridger and other lands within our state. Today we recognize Utah’s eight federally recognized Native nations, historic Indigenous communities in Utah, Indigenous individuals and communities past and present. In offering this land acknowledgment, we affirm Indigenous sovereignty, history, and experiences.”
Tyler Riggs, Providence
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/E62NWqd
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