Land Acknowledgment

 

The Rochester Children’s Book Festival takes place on the unceded sovereign territory known as Onöndowa’ga:’, or Seneca land. We come together with respect for the ancestral homeland of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a union of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora Nations, who are the original stewards of this land.

 

Let us take a moment to reflect on the resiliency of these people, past and present, despite our shared history of colonization, genocide, and assimilation of the Indigenous people that took place on this land. We gratefully acknowledge the strength and diversity of the Haudenosaunee people, or People of the Longhouse, who make their home here today.

We support this land acknowledgment with meaningful action. The RCBF is supporting two organizations: the Native Fund at We Need Diverse Books and our local Ganondagan State Historic Park. We hope that our land acknowledgment and meaningful actions will provide an awareness of the diverse and vibrant Native American communities today as well as inspire attendees to support Indigenous people at their own meetings and gatherings.

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Diversebooks.org the Native Fund

Ganondagan.org