We live in a world where the legacy of colonialism has not faded, and many of the institutions that surround us have played a part in this long and painful history. To have a chance at making a positive impact on the world we must acknowledge this, and acknowledge our own position within this unjust system.
I believe that a land acknowledgement should be a well-researched text, the outcome of a thorough learning process, and also a pedagogical tool. For this reason, this land acknowledgement is currently under construction. Hopefully, it soon reaches a state in which I feel it is ready to be fully shared. For the moment, I want to directly quote a wonderful resource that has personally helped me—the land acknowledgement of the Climate Justice course (ENERES C160/ESPM C176) at UC Berkeley in Fall 2022.
UC Berkeley occupies xučyun (Huchin), the unceded land of the Chocenyo speaking Ohlone people. The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and other descendants of the Verona Band of Alameda County continue to reside in their traditional homelands, practice their language and other customs, and assert their political and territorial sovereignty. UC Berkeley was established through the seizure of Indigenous land and the creation of the land-grant university system under the Morrill Act of 1862. This class and its members are implicated in this history. In recognition of the ongoing colonization of this land, we are called to dismantle the settler-colonial structures that continue to shape our society and institutions.
Jaye Mejia-Duwan, Dr. Meg Mills Novoa. 2022
Climate justice is intimately connected to colonization, and this course will explore the central role of colonialism in determining the causes and effects of climate change in the Bay Area and across the globe. Additional information, including ways to support Muwekma Ohlone sovereignty, can be found on the Muwekma tribal website: http://www.muwekma.org. Information on the Shuumi land tax, a voluntary contribution to the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust that supports Ohlone land rematriation, can be found at the Sogorea Te’ website: https://sogoreate-landtrust.org.
Land acknowledgement for Costa Rica
The town of Escazú, Costa Rica – where I grew up – is located in the land stolen from the Huetar people. Huetares have a rich cultural history and oral tradition, and though the Huetar language has disappeared, many aspects of this tradition are still alive among the indigenous peoples in the Mora, Parrita and Puriscal counties. Their history includes a long resistance against Spanish colonialism, with the leadership of King Garabito still being remembered hundreds of years later. Because literature on Garabito’s life is sparse, I want to recommend the recent book El Rey Garabito, Defensor de la Libertad on the topic.
Since 1977, Costa Rica has had the Indigenous Law (Ley 6172 or Ley Indígena) in place to protect officially recognized indigenous lands from being sold to members outside the community. This law has faced attempts to be repealed in the recent past and in 2022 the constitutional court (Sala IV) ruled that there was no legal basis to repeal the law on constitutional grounds. This law, however, has been implemented at a glacially slow pace, and little protection is granted to indigenous people exercising their right to land. Even international bodies such as the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) and the UN have interjected on the topic. (For more information on this, see the ruling on precautionary measures by the IACHR in 2015, and a report by the UN on indigenous rights violations in 2022.)
Today, indigenous rights activists in Costa Rica still face life threats. Recent tragic instances of this were the 2019 and 2020 assassinations of Sergio Rojas (a Bribri leader of the U̱niwak clan) and Jerhy Rivera Rivera (a leader of the Brörán Peoples)—both crimes being direct reactions to their efforts in protecting and recovering indigenous lands.
Currently, some of the organizations with which indigenous people protect their lands and rights in Costa Rica are: the Mesa Nacional Indígena de Costa Rica, the Frente Nacional de Pueblos Indígenas (FRENAPI), the Red Indígena Bribri-Cabécar (RIBCA), the Asociación Regional Aborigen del Dikes (ARADIKES), the Foro Nacional de Mujeres Indígenas and the Movimiento Indígena Interuniversitario (MIINTU). In many instances, these organizations have played a key role in environmental stewardship.
For more information on current indigenous perspectives and realities in Costa Rica, the UN document Soy indígena en Costa Rica y esta es mi historia is a great resource.
Felipe Montealegre-Mora 