November was Native American History Month! During this month, Student Diversity Awareness Board members, Gaby Abraham ‘23, and Zoe Anaya ‘24 conducted a special feature during Community honoring the Native Americans by presenting a land acknowledgment to the school. This presentation at Community should not be labeled as “special” because honoring different cultures and uplifting those who have had their voices suppressed or taken away altogether is something every member of the school community should be doing. 

The land acknowledgment goes as follows:

“We’d like to bring attention to the ground beneath our feet, the classrooms where we learn, and the campus which we are so deeply a part of. The land on which we walk connects us all and has sacredly connected humans to the earth for thousands of years. We acknowledge that the land we gather on, walk on, laugh on, and learn on is the traditional territory of the Chumash and Tongva Indigenous peoples. Today Marymount and its surrounding locations are home to 109 federally recognized Indigenous tribes and we would like to emphasize that this land remains a shared space among those peoples and furthermore we would like to formally honor those who originally inhabited this land. Let’s take a moment to honor these ancestral grounds that we are collectively gathered upon and support the resilience and strength that all Indigenous people have shown worldwide.”

SDAB wanted to reshare this land acknowledgment to honor and recognize the people who lived on this land in symbiosis. The intention of this practice is to start and continue a cycle of respect beyond rote recitation. 

Ever since the colonizers came to North America from Europe, the Indigenous Peoples of America have been marginalized, if not completely brutalized. At this time, SDAB wanted to remind everyone that the people and culture we are honoring are not of the past; these people and their culture have persevered to coexist with all, are here and the people of the future. By incorporating this statement, it is imperative to promote justice and community. While the lives of others may sometimes feel like looking through a window rather than a mirror, it is so important that everyone finds a safe space where they can adequately educate themselves on social justice issues.