As part of our organizational commitment to oppose racism and oppression, we've created a Land Acknowledgement to share at our events. This statement was drafted in collaboration with Indigenous staff members, whose voices have been a vital part of the process. We're posting it here in order to honor their efforts. Too often, land acknowledgements are created with contemporary Native people treated as an afterthought or a relic of the past, rather than a living community with an ongoing need for support.
Land Acknowledgement
As we gather today, on the traditional land and territories of our Indigenous brothers and sisters who settled, stewarded, and thrived on these lands for thousands of years before our arrival; we acknowledge where we are standing and recognize the devastating loss and adverse impact of colonization on these lands and peoples.
By making this acknowledgement, we aim to break the silence surrounding these stolen lands and disrupt our complicity in the historical and ongoing oppression of Indigenous people. While we cannot change the past, we can learn from it and commit to break the cycle for this and future generations.
Oregon is home to almost 110,000 Native and Indigenous persons descended from over 380 tribes. We are in the ancestral and occupied lands of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, Molalla, and many other tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River.
At LifeWorks NW, we acknowledge our responsibility to critically examine our history with these lands and people and the present day implications of our actions as an organization. We respectfully acknowledge and honor all Indigenous communities – past, present, future – and are grateful for their ongoing and vibrant presence.