HHSOM DEIB Committee Publishes Land & Labor Acknowledgement

HHSOM DEIB Committee Publishes Land & Labor Acknowledgement

For Immediate Release:

A Land & Labor acknowledgement has been added to the HHSOM Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging webpage. Our work to create a more equitable and just community relies on an honest and contextual history.  

This statement will be included in syllabus language recommendations at the HHSOM and offered as part of opening remarks for performances, gatherings, and meetings as outlined in DEIB’s Spring 2021 action plan.

The full acknowledgement is below, but we know it alone is not enough. We at the HHSOM must ask ourselves how we can take action to support indigenous communities. For more information and resources, consider visiting https://nativegov.org.

Land & Labor Acknowledgement

Our activities at the University of Georgia take place on land that European colonizers stole from Indigenous peoples through violence. Eleven different Native American tribes lived on what is now considered Georgia.  The Athens area included the Mvskoke Creek (Muscogee and Creek), and possibly Cherokee.  Enslaved people (primarily Indigenous and of African descent) likely provided exploited labor on the land where the University of Georgia was built.  The contributions and history of these peoples--including musical culture--has not been a part of the collective consciousness in our UGA community.  As we begin and/or continue to understand the history of education and our own roles in these systems and institutions, it is important for each of us to recognize the histories of and on this land as integral to becoming thoughtful and inclusive artistic citizens.  

For more about indigenous work in higher education, please explore the work of ACPA’s Indigenous Student Affairs Network. For more information about indigenous land, please visit https://native-land.ca and https://nativegov.org.