Land Acknowledgement (developed by the Mitchell Hamline School of Law’s Native American Law and Sovereignty Institute (NALS Institute) and used here with permission):
We acknowledge our presence in the tribal and treaty homelands of the Dakota Oyate since time immemorial. These lands are home to the Sisseton, Wahpeton, Mdewakanton and Wahpekute Dakota peoples. There are four Tribal Nations who remain in these lands as tribal governments, the Lower Sioux Indian Community, the Prairie Island Indian Community, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, and the Upper Sioux Community. We acknowledge and respect the Dakota Oyate as part of the larger Sioux Nation, traditionally known as the Seven Council Fires, the Oceti Sakowin. We also acknowledge the regional territory of the Ojibwe/Chippewa/Anishinaabe peoples in these tribal homelands. There are seven Tribal Nations who remain in these lands as tribal governments, the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, and the White Earth Nation. We also acknowledge the ancestral connection of the Ho-Chunk Nation to this region. In these tribal lands, Indigenous peoples have joined together in community, stewardship, and spirituality upholding traditional values and legal principles.
This land acknowledgment was developed specifically for the NALS Institute and is not for public use. Please contact the NALS Institute for permission to use. The Public Health Law Center thanks the NALS Institute for allowing us to include this land acknowledgement here.