We thank the Tribal Leaders from the 11 Tribes for producing the following language, which we have adapted for our office’s purposes. 

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities respectfully acknowledges that the land we are on today is the traditional and ancestral homeland of Daḳota people. The University of Minnesota is founded as a land-grant institution and we recognize that our founding came at a dire cost to Daḳota people. Daḳota people were forced to cede their lands in return for goods and services, but the government did not uphold the terms of these treaties, leading to widespread devastation. We recognize this painful past, and we honor Daḳota peoples’ history on this land, their sovereignty, and their continued contributions to our region.

Minnesota comes from the Daḳota name for this region, Mni Sota Maḳoce—“the land where the waters reflect the skies.” Daḳota and numerous other Indigenous peoples, whose cultural, spiritual, and economic practices are intrinsically woven to this landscape, hold this land sacred. We recognize them as original stewards of this land and all the relatives within it, who had thriving and vibrant communities prior to disruption by settlers. Today, the State of Minnesota shares geography with eleven Tribal Nations. By offering this land acknowledgement, we affirm tribal sovereignty and hold the University of Minnesota accountable to recognize and counter the historical and contemporary injustices that continue to impact Indigenous people, through mutually beneficial partnerships, research, policies, and practices that respect Indigeneity.

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We also recognize that this statement is inadequate. The Institute for Advanced Study puts action behind this statement by committing to working alongside our relatives, dismantling the systems that harm our communities, and to building a just university together. 

While this work is ongoing, we feel it is important to identify a few concrete ways the Institute for Advanced Study is prioritizing and accomplishing this work.

We support research and programming by Indigenous scholars and partners.

• The ongoing (In)Justice Series events, as well as multiple public events featuring Indigenous speakers per year, including one focused on the Land Grab Universities Project and several Thinking Spatially Symposia, focused on Indigenous Mapping and Indigenous Data Sovereignty
• We are co-hosts of the Decolonization Roundtable, presented in partnership by the Office of Public Engagement, Department of American Indian Studies, and IAS
• Ongoing support of, and partnership with the TRUTH Project by offering administrative, communications, event, and financial support
• We ensure that several of our IAS Research and Creative Collaboratives are Indigenous-led and/or co-led
• Support of the Indigenous Women’s Water Sisterhood via the Mellon Environmental Stewardship, Place, and Community Initiative
• In addition, we hosted a large public event featuring Robin Wall Kimmerer and Diane Wilson, in partnership with Northrop and Milkweed Editions, to an audience of over 2,000

We collaborate with and regularly feature Indigenous authors, storytelling, epistemologies, and methods in Open Rivers: Water, Place, and Community.

• Open Rivers Issue 17: Fall 2020 was themed “Relationality” and was guest edited in partnership with Christine Taitano DeLisle, associate professor of American Indian Studies, to imagine, coordinate, and create an issue that could be a resource for people interested in Indigenous epistemologies and methodologies. The work included is authored primarily by Indigenous contributors.
• We highly recommend this particular article: "Where We Stand: The University of Minnesota and Dakhóta Treaty Lands" by Čhaŋtémaza (Neil McKay) and Monica Siems McKay.

We advocate for the inclusion and integration of Indigenous methodologies and ways of knowing in University curriculum and campus spaces.

• We are the administrative home for the Spencer Foundation-funded project “Enhancing Collaborative Research Toward Prospects of STEM Tribal College Graduate Students,” which aims to radically remake the role of predominantly white institutions in STEM graduate education by centering Tribal Colleges and Universities in tribal land- and self-determination-based science training.
• With several international partners, we are hosting a global gathering on Indigenous experiences with tourism, mega-development projects, and racial capitalism.
• The Mellon Environmental Stewardship, Place, and Community Initiative focuses on centering Indigenous epistemologies and other ways of knowing to shape how we think about relationships with the planet and each other.
• A series of reading groups focused on The Relentless Business of Treaties: How Indigenous Land Became U.S. Property, by Martin Case, includes multiple videos and teaching resources.