Land Acknowledgement:

I would like to take a moment to honor, recognize and give visibility to the indigenous peoples' land that we are on. We recognize those who have lived and stewarded and continue to live and steward this land. Multnomah county rests on traditional village sites of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, bands of Chinook, Kalapuya, Molalla and many other Tribes who made their homes along the Columbia & Willamette Rivers. These peoples have built, weaved, planted, harvested, canoed, prayed, danced, sweat raised their children, and continue to do so here today. These peoples have told their stories passed down to them for generations, and we hold space for those stories. We recognize that these lands are stolen, and have perpetually been used in a colonial way and thus hurt many native peoples. In a small way to show our solidarity and reparations, and with love and care, we respect and honor those who have been here before us and who are still here. We also recognize that Black liberation and Indigenous Sovereignty are inherently linked, one not able to be achieved without the other. Through our resistance to colonialism we have found kinship and through accepting one another we find community. As we move forward we hope that we can think about how we can give land back to indigenous peoples, and give offerings to this land both to heal our relationship to it, and to heal our relationship with the indigenous peoples who have lived here, and whose descendants still occupy these lands today.