West Virginia University, with its statewide institutional
presence, resides on land that includes ancestral lands of the Shawnee,
Cherokee, Lenape (also called Delaware), the Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois)
Nations: Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, Tuscarora), and many other
Indigenous peoples over time.
In acknowledging this, we recognize and appreciate those Indigenous nations whose lands we are living on and working in. Indigenous peoples have been in the land currently known as West Virginia since time immemorial.
It is important that we understand both the context that has brought our university community to reside on this land, and our place within this long history.
(Developed
Fall 2019 w/input from NAS Committee members, especially Dr. Charlotte Hoelke,
and after NAS Program consultation with tribes, to be read at public events and
included on websites, in syllabi, and shared with others. This acknowledgment
should be considered a dynamic statement, modified when needed to be as
inclusive, relevant, and accurate as possible. Bonnie M. Brown, NAS Coord.)
We are pleased to share this video version of this land acknowledgement.
Thank you to Bonnie M. Brown and the Native American Studies Program, Bob Pirner for voicing the statement, and Kelly Heasley in University Relations for her aerial video and production.