November is Native American Heritage Month, a time dedicated to celebrating Native Americans and their diverse cultures, histories, and traditions. America is a vast land of many cultures dating back thousands of years to the original inhabitants of the land.
Native American Heritage Month is also an opportune time to educate ourselves about Native tribes: to raise general awareness about the unique challenges Native people have faced both historically and in the present, and the ways in which tribal citizens work to conquer these challenges.
It is also a time to celebrate the traditions, languages, and stories of Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Island communities to ensure their rich histories and contributions continue to thrive with each passing generation.
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What is a Land Acknowledgment?
A land acknowledgement is a formal statement, typically presented at the beginning of public events and gatherings, that recognizes and honors the original residents of a given land, the Indigenous groups. We highly encourage campus members to open meetings and events with this land acknowledgement, especially during this month and beyond.
IVC Land Acknowledgement
At this time I would like to take a moment to honor, acknowledge, reflect, express our sincere gratitude for, and appreciation of, the peoples, ancestors, and sacred land that we gather upon today. I want to honor the ancestral homelands and traditional territories of Indigenous peoples who have been here since time immemorial and recognize that we must continue to build solidarity and kinship with Native Indigenous communities.
Irvine Valley College is based in the city of Irvine, in the County of Orange, and we honor the Kizh [kitch] Nation, the Acjachemen [hash-e-min] Nation, and the Gabrieleno /Tongva Tribe. We would also like to pay our respects to the land and life of Indigenous people, the Honuukvetam [ho-nuke-ve-tam] (ancestors), 'Ahiihirom [ah-hee-hi-rome] (elders), and 'Eyoohiinkem [eee-yo-heeng-kem] (our relatives/relations) past, present, and emerging.
