This acknowledgment is a living document. This is a version of one delivered prior and will continue to evolve. It dispels the illusion of separateness by reminding us of our inherent connection with nature and each other. Any of us could deliver this acknowledgment and it would be meaningful.
The Portland Metropolitan area rests on the traditional village sites of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Tualatin, Bands of Chinook, Kalapuya, Molalla, and many other tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River.
Viewing themselves not as owners of the land, but rather its stewards, a common custom among native peoples was to acknowledge the goodness of the earth and their ancestors who cared for it, whenever they gathered.
Today, gathered here, PGMC would like to respectfully acknowledge these stewards of the land and to introduce the practice of Land Acknowledgement.
In countries such as New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, it is commonplace, or even policy, to open events and gatherings by acknowledging the traditional Indigenous inhabitants of that land.
This practice offers recognition and respect, countering the “doctrine of discovery” with the true story of the people who were already here. Today, Portland’s diverse and vibrant Native communities are 70,000 strong, descended from more than 380 Tribes.
Acknowledgment also reminds us that colonization is an ongoing process, here with native lands still occupied due to deceptive and broken treaties and elsewhere with governments and their policies reaching beyond their borders seeking to infringe upon the rights of other sovereign nations.
We, the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus, offer this acknowledgment with the intention of awareness and in the spirit of the wisdom and clarity of those who came before.
Hayu Masi. “Thank you”
