What is a Land Acknowledgment?
Land acknowledgment is a traditional custom in many Native nations and communities that dates back centuries. Today, a land acknowledgement is a formal statement that identifies the Indigenous Peoples who were the original stewards of the lands on which we now live and work, and that honors their enduring relationship with their traditional territories. Land acknowledgment is a simple, but powerful way of recognizing that the history of this place includes the forcible removal and genocide of original inhabitants by colonizers, and that the harm is not in the past, but is on-going. Our acknowledgment is not intended to assuage guilt but is a way of recognizing that our presence on these lands is a form of participation in this complex history. We acknowledge the land to express gratitude and appreciation to those whose territories we inhabit.
Manhattanville Land Acknowledgment 2023-2024:
Manhattanville University recognizes that it currently resides on the ancestral homelands of the Siwanoy, Wiechquaeskeck, Wappinger, Munsee, and Lenape tribal nations. We pay our respects to their elders both past and present and thank the original caretakers of this land. As an academic institution, it is our responsibility to acknowledge the sovereignty of these traditional territories, and the histories of conquest and dispossession that allowed for the growth of this institution.
We further acknowledge that the Manhattanville campus is located on lands that were originally purchased from local tribal leaders by John Harrison in 1695 for 40 English pounds. Land “ownership” as a concept did not exist in Native cultures, and leaders assumed they had granted Harrison the right to use the land to hunt and farm for a period of time. Harrison sought the approval of the purchase from Benjamin Fletcher, colonial governor of New York (1692-1698), and in 1696, the transaction was formally recognized by English King William III. Over time, the land became known as "Harrison’s Purchase." The main road outside of campus, Purchase Street, ran through the middle of the property, and was originally a tribal footpath connecting present-day Rye Lake and the Long Island Sound.
Please take a moment to join us in reflection on the history of this land, and in the recognition that our work does not end with this acknowledgement. We pledge to center and amplify the voices of those who came before us. We pledge to engage in building relationships through academic scholarship, collaborative partnerships, community service, and enrollment and retention efforts that acknowledge the past and that will help to shape a more sustainable and equitable future.
There are a number of ways to use this website.
You can use it directly above by entering your address, or by mousing or clicking around on the map to see the relevant territories in a location.
Once you click, a number of links will appear with different nation names. By clicking on those links, you will be taken to a page specifically about that nation, language, or treaty, where you can view some sources, give feedback, and learn a little more. We are always trying to expand our resources on these pages.
You can also export the map to a printable image file, turn map labels on or off to see non-Indigenous borders and towns, and select or search from a dropdown of territories, treaties, and languages.
We also have mobile apps available for iOS and Android. To use these, you can enter an address into the search bar at the top of the app, or you can press anywhere on the map to “drop a pin” and see more about the location you’ve selected.