We acknowledge that the land where we gather today was once a globally rare grassland and woodland forest, collaboratively maintained by tribal peoples in deep kinship with the ecology. We acknowledge that despite the displacement and damage caused by ongoing settler-colonial oppression, the Piscataway Indian Nation continues to maintain relationships with their kin, these lands and waterways.
We also acknowledge that the lands now known as Baltimore County were once inhabited by the Susquehannock tribe. And, we acknowledge that this land is now home to other tribal peoples, including the Lumbee, who live here in diaspora, with their land and waterway kinships in other parts of the country also disrupted and harmed by settler-colonial practices.
We acknowledge that violent erasure tactics have been used to “disappear” Indigenous peoples from the lands and narratives where we gather today. Among those tactics was ethnocide through the Indian Boarding School system, a system that the Presbyterian church shamefully participated in and which we now seek to repair.
This erasure has left many of us unaware that Indigenous people are still alive and living in this place known today as Baltimore. We express gratitude that, even after 500 years, full erasure has failed, and we commit to ensuring that others will come to know the Piscataway, Susquehannock, Lumbee, and other tribal peoples of this land.
We acknowledge healing as a right of Indigenous peoples, of the land, and of the waterways. We acknowledge that an imbalanced, extractive relationship with the people and environment is unsustainable and that we are obligated to pursue policies that will lead to restoration.
We acknowledge that God has tasked us with the work of mutual flourishing for all life and, through the example set by Indigenous peoples, has provided the right path forward: deep kinship. Humbly, we seek to learn from our Indigenous partners and emulate their practices.
If you’d like to learn more about the Native land you are on, go to this website: native-land.ca
