Land Acknowledgement

A Tribute to Our Indigenous Past

Recognizing and Expanding Our Understanding of History
Native people lived in the St. Croix River Valley for many generations before what many considered the “start” of this region’s history. When Native tribes ceded this land to the United States in the Treaties of 1837, the ultimate intention on non-native interests to exploit lumber and mineral resources was not made clear, nor did government officials honor hunting, fishing, and harvesting rights retained by Native tribes. Displacement, racial inequities, and genocide of Native people occurred in the years that followed. More recently, tribes have sought to regain their treaty rights to fish, hunt and gather on ceded lands. This history is an important but often overlooked part of our community’s cultural heritage, a legacy that continues to affect Native people today.

Land Acknowledgement Statement as a First Step
The Library’s Land Acknowledgement Statement was developed to help us all catch up with history and recognize that if not for the events of 1837, many of us might not be here today.

Marine Community Library and the communities it serves are located on the traditional, ancestral, and contemporary homelands of the Dakota and Anishinaabe peoples. This land was ceded to the United States in the Treaties of 1837, resulting in the colonization, genocide, and forced removal of the Dakota and Anishinaabe. The settlers who followed, and residents since, have benefited as a result. Marine Community Library acknowledges this legacy and is committed to examining the roots of racial inequity and building better relationships with the land and one another.

Beyond the Land Acknowledgment Statement
The Library’s broad mission is to offer opportunities to educate and inform. As indicated by the recognition voiced in our Land Acknowledgement Statement, this includes efforts to inspire our community to embrace active learning about the roots of racial inequity and its impact on our community today.

The Library is actively pursuing opportunities to listen, learn from, and be in conversation with those who can help us understand more about native issues and history. We believe an appropriate role as a Library is to help address the legacy of ignorance, neglect and harm and begin to heal our relationship with history, with Native people of our area, and with the land and the river that we all love.

We welcome input and ideas from community members. Please contact us with suggestions for impactful programming, as well as new books by Native authors and about Native issues and history to add to our collection.