Pratt Institute is situated on Lenapehoking, the traditional and unceded homeland of the Lenape people, past, present, and future. The Lenape people have been living on this land long before the United States was established, and their wisdom is essential to our time.
We acknowledge that the genocide, theft of land and resources, forced migration, and systematic cultural oppression of Indigenous Peoples and Nations have a long-lasting impact on the living conditions, mental health, and cultural lineage of Indigenous Peoples and Nations. We acknowledge that the colonizers and their descendants have benefited economically and socially from the oppression of Indigenous Peoples and Nations, and we commit to repairing inequity and rebalancing the power distribution.
As learners and educators, we recognize Indigenous Peoples and Nations’ longtime traditions of making art and storytelling. We acknowledge the significance of their creativity and how often they are unrecognized as artists, designers, and writers, while their culture is appropriated and taken by other artists, designers, and writers.
Only when we are informed of our past can we collectively envision our future. We begin by properly naming the land we reside on and recognizing ourselves as (in)voluntary immigrants to this land. We will actively work to challenge the legacy of settler colonialism, undo its extractive and exploitative land practices, and express gratitude to the stewards of the land and water who came before us, and honor their descendants who are here today.
We recognize that a land acknowledgment such as this is a small gesture in demonstrating our commitment to dismantling the ongoing legacies of oppression and not a substitute for continued action.
Read the Prattfolio Spotlight for more information on how the Living Land Acknowledgment became adopted.
Following decades of pressure from Indigenous leaders and the more recent #HonorNativeLand movement, non-native people are beginning to understand the importance of acknowledging the many Indigenous nations, territories, and communities on which European immigrants settled and on which Americans live today. As part of this growing movement for land acknowledgement, a few Indigenous-led organizations have developed interactive maps and tools to identify the tribal territories, languages, and treaties on which we live today. We encourage you to use these tools to learn more about North America's original inhabitants, and to honor the many Indigenous communities still living on this land.
What we call "Brooklyn" is known to original inhabitants as "Lenapehoking," or "The Land of the Lenape." You can find library resources about Lenapehoking on this guide. In November 2021, Pratt Institute announced its Living Land Acknowledgment.
Check out the short video below for an overview of the #HonorNativeLand movement and an explanation of why land acknowledgement remains so crucial.