University of Maryland President Darryll Pines released the university’s official land acknowledgment in an email to faculty Thursday.
A committee of students, faculty and staff worked together with Native and Indigenous Elders for two and a half years to create the acknowledgement to honor the Piscataway people, who originally inhabited the land where the university is located, Pines wrote.
The land acknowledgement will be visible in the Yahentamitsi Dining Hall and can be displayed or announced at any campus events, according to the email.
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There will be an official ceremony for the Yahentamitsi Dining Hall Nov. 1 detailing the story of the Piscataway people whose tribe lived on the land the university has now — land European colonizers stole from the tribe.
Pines also said the new land acknowledgement should be the only one read aloud at campus events, and clubs or departments on the campus should not use or create a different one.
The land acknowledgement reads:
Every community owes its existence and strength to the generations before them, around the world, who contributed their hopes, dreams, and energy into making the history that led to this moment.
Truth and acknowledgement are critical in building mutual respect and connections across all barriers of heritage and difference.
So, we acknowledge the truth that is often buried: We are on the ancestral lands of the Piscataway People, who are the ancestral stewards of this sacred land. It is their historical responsibility to advocate for the four-legged, the winged, those that crawl and those that swim. They remind us that clean air and pristine waterways are essential to all life.
This Land Acknowledgement is a vocal reminder for each of us as two-leggeds to ensure our physical environment is in better condition than what we inherited, for the health and prosperity of future generations.
This story has been updated.
