By Jordan Moore
O say can you see that the University of Louisville (U of L) should recognize the Indigenous American land that the college sits on at events and games? Land acknowledgments are as important as when someone sings the Star-Spangled Banner. According to Northwestern University, “A Land Acknowledgment is a formal statement that recognizes and respects Indigenous Peoples as traditional stewards of this land and the enduring relationship that exists between Indigenous Peoples and their traditional territories.”
CNN states an example of a land acknowledgment could be, “This event is taking place on the traditional lands of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.” The news outlet also said it could be an even more in-depth saying, like, “We recognize the sustained oppression, land dispossession, and involuntary removals of the Muscogee and Cherokee peoples from Georgia and the Southeast …”
On Sept. 15th, U of L’s soccer team played against Virginia Tech, and someone sang the Star Spangled Banner. During that game, it would have been the perfect opportunity to state the name of the Indigenous American land where the game was taking place. There are places at U of L and in Louisville that would be a great resource to gain that information from, like U of L’s Cultural and Equity Center and the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission. If anything, they can even get inspiration on how to write the land acknowledgment from some of the names of the parks in Louisville: Iroquois, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Shawnee.
Indigenous Americans have called the U.S. their home before the United States was even the United States and have been victims of horrific experiences. The least companies and universities, like U of L, could do is to acknowledge them at events and athletic games.
Photo Courtesy // Jordan Moore
