The English department at Syracuse University acknowledges that we are living and working on the lands of the Haudenosaunee. Specifically, we acknowledge with respect the Onondaga Nation, past and present, firekeepers of the Haudenosaunee, the Indigenous peoples on whose lands Syracuse University now stands. We also acknowledge with respect all the Indigenous peoples and their kin who have been or have become kin with the Haudenosaunee in these lands and territories. Let us strive to honor, with gratitude, the land itself and the peoples, human and other than human, who have stewarded and lived in relation to this land across generations by learning and honoring the Declaration of the Onondaga Nation. Let us also recognize that we cannot separate the history of New York or Syracuse University from the history of colonialism and slavery in what is today named the United States. The English department is committed to honoring and engaging this knowledge through its teaching, research, and governance.

May this acknowledgment be more than an insufficient gesture. May it be a call to action and a reminder to us with whom and on whose lands we live, so that we may strive to live in more ethical relations.