Land Acknowledgement

The stories we tell today rise from the ground sown by the story-tellers who have come before. Chicago is the traditional homeland of the Council of Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawotami nations, as well as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Fox, and the Illinois Confederacy of the Peoria and Kaskaskia nations. In 1830 Congress forcibly stripped these tribes of their land by passing the Indian Removal Act which led to relocation, poverty, and starvation.  We wish to recognize the many indigenous people who continue to call Chicago home, who serve as stewards for their cultures and guardians for their land and waterways. We also wish to acknowledge the violent history of the space we use today. We are learning how to take more accountability for and responsibility for the land we also call home.

For more information, visit the American Indian Center of Chicago at https://aicchicago.org/.

The Board, Staff, and Core Ensemble of Remy Bumppo Theatre Company resolve to adopt this Land Acknowledgement as part of our regular practice at meetings, events, and performances.

Our intention and purpose in this resolution is to join the current cultural movement that seeks to normalize these practices in our everyday lives in order to raise awareness of: 1) the history of the land on which we work and perform; and 2) Indigenous People’s ongoing relationship with that land.

As a community, Remy Bumppo pledges to use a Land Acknowledgement to reflect, in gratitude and recognition, on the history of the land on which we currently reside.

Remy Bumppo resolves to make this important step as part of our ongoing effort toward becoming an anti-racist organization and to make the necessary changes to our policies, procedures, and practices to create a welcoming environment for all races, cultures, abilities, and creeds, and specifically BIPOC-identifying people.  

What is a Land Acknowledgment?

A Land Acknowledgement is a formal statement that recognizes and respects Indigenous Peoples as traditional stewards of this land and the enduring relationship that exists between Indigenous Peoples and their traditional territories. 

Why do we recognize the land?

To recognize the land is an expression of gratitude and appreciation to those whose territory you reside on, and a way of honoring the Indigenous people who have been living and working on the land from time immemorial. It is important to understand the long standing history that has brought you to reside on the land, and to seek to understand your place within that history. Land acknowledgements do not exist in a past tense, or historical context: colonialism is a current ongoing process, and we need to build our mindfulness of our present participation. It is also worth noting that acknowledging the land is Indigenous protocol.