Land Acknowledgment Statement

2020 PeopleFest! kickoff event at Staring Lake Amphitheatre

The Human Rights and Diversity Commission recognizes the essential contributions Native Americans have made in the history, culture and economy of Minnesota, and notably in Eden Prairie.

In partnership with Christal Moose of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota, the Commission drafted an Eden Prairie Land Acknowledgement Statement to honor the Indigenous Peoples who have inhabited the land in Eden Prairie. A land acknowledgment is typically given as an introduction to a meeting or event as a way to welcome attendees and recognize the history of the land where the event is occurring.

The Commission also created an Eden Prairie Land Acknowledgment Statement Guide [PDF] to provide a tool groups can use at the beginning of meetings or events in Eden Prairie to recognize and respect the unique and enduring relationship that exists between Indigenous Peoples and their traditional territories.

Eden Prairie Land Acknowledgment Statement

It is important to acknowledge that we are gathered upon the ancestral, traditional and contemporary homelands of the Dakóta. Through treaties the U.S. government seized Ojibwe and Dakóta land in Minnesota. Specifically, signing of the treaties of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota in 1851 opened land located to the west of Ȟaȟáwakpa/Wakpá Tháŋka (Mississippi River), allowing pioneers to settle in what is now Eden Prairie.

We acknowledge this land has a complex and layered history, and pay respect to the elders who have stewarded the land throughout the generations and continue to do so. We offer this statement as a step toward healing and make a commitment to learn the history of the land Eden Prairie is built on, to recognize, support, collaborate with and advocate for Indigenous People, and to consider the convergence of legacies that bring us to where we are today.

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