Land Acknowledgement

Shorewood High School PTSA Land Acknowledgement

The Shorewood High School PTSA acknowledges that we reside on the unceded land of the Coastal Salish people, specifically the Duwamish Tribe which covers the King County area. Neighboring tribes include the Puyallup, Suquamish, Tulalip, Snoqualmie and Muckleshoot nations among others. The Native peoples of the United States have been repeatedly lied to by the US government, were forcibly displaced, and have endured centuries of oppression, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. Despite this violence and theft, these tribes are alive and flourishing. They are the traditional stewards of this land.

A great one minute video by SIFF and narrated by McKenna Sweet Dorman of the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe is here.

Our PTSA supports a curriculum that educates our students about the Native peoples of the Pacific Northwest and teaches mindfulness of our present day participation as ongoing colonial oppressors. We were not invited to this land. We were never asked to come here. European colonial power came and took what it wanted by any means they could. We are the present day recipients of the results of their work. Our PTSA believes that until our youth and all of us face these facts directly, we cannot move on from perpetrating the same crimes our ancestors did. It is our job, the job of the school staff, and the wider community to provide this awareness and education.

Below are actions you can take and resources about our local Tribes, the National PTA statements regarding Native American children and families, and several websites that inspired this land acknowledgement.

Actions you can take:

Educate yourself about the history of the land you are living on - see websites below
Find out which Native American territory you are occupying
Pay rent to the Duwamish tribe