We acknowledge that the land where the Public Health Law Center is located is near Bdote, the sacred confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers and the birthplace and center of all things for the Dakota people since time immemorial. This region is also the ancestral territory of the Anishinaabe, and other Indigenous people from many Tribal Nations now call this land home. Indigenous people have made and continue to make countless, and uncounted, contributions to this region through protection of the land, air and water, the preservation and revitalization of Indigenous foodways, and demonstrating resilience in the face of relentless adversity. We recognize that the land the Public Health Law Center currently occupies was forcibly stolen and, therefore, is a part of the legacy of US law and policy aimed at carrying out the genocide and oppression of Indigenous people and that, nonetheless, this land remains and will continue to be Indigenous land. We believe that a fundamental part of our work is to repair and address this heavy legacy of the law, and apply ourselves to supporting communities in exercising sovereignty to improve the lives of their community members.  

The Public Health Law Center developed this land acknowledgement and it is a work in progress. We also would like to honor and express appreciation for the land acknowledgement created by Professor Angelique EagleWoman and the Native American Law and Sovereignty Institute (NALSI). The NALSI land acknowledgement was created for the shared land where our offices are located, and can be found here.