Longmont, Colorado: Land Acknowledgement

 

                    Mašké by Danielle SeeWalker. Longmont Art Museum. May 2023.

 

                                            Exhibit: "Duality: Contemporary Works by Indigenous Artists"

Being in Longmont for a couple of months, I checked into the city's land acknowledgement, if any. 

Longmont does have one.

In July 2021, the Longmont City Council adopted this land acknowledgment: 

We acknowledge that Longmont sits on the traditional territory of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Ute and other Indigenous peoples. We honor the history and the living and spiritual connection that the first peoples have with this land. It is our commitment to face the injustices that happened when the land was taken, and to educate our communities, ourselves and our children to ensure that these injustices do not happen again.

John Fryer, the reporter who wrote this article also shared a quote from the mayor: 

Mayor Brian Bagley said approving the statement amounted to sending a message to Indigenous peoples as well as Longmont residents and visitors to the community. But, he asked, if the words in the statement are true, "What are we going to do about it?"

Bagley .... said the community's commitment needs to be "more than just a statement."

He suggested one possibility would be for Longmont residents to provide homes to tribal children attending colleges and universities in the area.

And the mayor is right to ask this. There are two-to-three concrete commitments in the land acknowledgment statement: 

1. Face the injustices that happened when the land was taken, 
2. Educate our communities, ourselves and our children ... to
3. Ensure that these injustices do not happen again. 

..... and yet. 

Here we are in a time when our nation's decision-makers are drunk on a neo-racist cocktail of "invasions" and "border security," stirred with a hearty splash of George Orwell's 1984 doublespeak, where "diversity, equality, and inclusion" is code for a KKK warning against "white genocide." 

 

Sign outside Harrison, Arkansas. August 2016. Photo credit: Mzuriana.

  

Our Declaration of Independence states: 

" .. .  all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ..."