Moorhead Human Rights Commission approves recognition of indigenous lands – InForum

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MOORHEAD – The Moorhead Human Rights Commission has joined with area colleges to approve a land recognition honoring the indigenous people who once lived and worked on the lands on which the town sits.

It was unanimously approved and will be read before each of their monthly meetings. The commission will also ask the city council in February to approve the declaration and read it before each of their meetings.

It reads that the “commission, collectively and with gratitude, acknowledges the sacred ground on which the city is built.

“We recognize the people who have resided here for generations and acknowledge that the spirit of the Dakotas, Ojibwa, Métis and all Indigenous communities pervades this land.

“The contribution of indigenous peoples will not be forgotten, nor will the success achieved by the peoples of the land. We will continue to educate, advocate, honor and unite for the Indigenous peoples of this land.

The statement, according to commissioners Siham Amedy and MaKell Pauling-Normandin, was developed with the assistance of the Clay County Historical and Cultural Society.

“They helped us identify the tribes that were here,” Amedy said, noting that people had an economic and living system here. “We want to recognize their contributions and that they continue to contribute to our city.”

Pauling-Normandin and Amedy added that it was a “matter of respect”.

Such statements are increasingly common across the country as a way to resist the erasure of Indigenous histories and a way to honor their contributions.

North Dakota State University, University of North Dakota and Minnesota Moorhead State University endorsed similar statements.

Hollie Mackey, acting director of the Native Association of Fargo-Moorhead and professor and researcher of Indian education at NDSU, said she was pleased with the statement.

She called it “thoughtful, meaningful and admirable” and appreciates having a non-Indigenous group take on the task of writing a land acknowledgment.

“It’s more comprehensive than most statements I’ve read,” she said. Many statements are placed in historical context, but fail to acknowledge that Indigenous peoples are “still here” and making contributions.

She understands the political realities, but said another step forward could be recognition of this unceded territory and that people have been “forcibly removed” from the land here.

Mackey thought the human rights panel ‘did their best’ and added that she was ‘very impressed’ with the panel commissioners and called City Council member Deb White, who is also a commissioner to human rights, a “remarkable ally”.

The professor, who identifies with the Northern Sheyenne tribe of southeastern Montana, said she hopes the words of the declaration can be operational in the future.

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