Land Acknowledgment
Bristol Community College acknowledges that the locations on which we teach, learn,
and connect are situated on the ancestral territory of the Wampanoag Tribal Nation
who has lived here for millennia—protecting and stewarding the land and waterways—well
before the arrival of colonial settlers just over 400 years ago. We wish to acknowledge
the many other Indigenous peoples who still live here, as well as those who are gone
due to warfare, disease or forced removal.
Despite the attempted erasure of Native populations through genocidal policies, war,
disease, land dispossession, and laws against the practice of traditional lifestyles
and language, Native peoples are still here. The resistance to ongoing colonization
and marginalization continues through language revitalization, reclamation of Indigenous
homelands and waters, ceremony, health and wellness, and assertion of rights to self-governance
and self-determination.
We recognize that, while words and acknowledgments are active steps toward decolonization,
they alone are not sufficient. We will support your efforts to learn more about the
Wampanoag people, whose homelands Bristol Community College resides and on which we
all live and work. Further, we encourage acts that promote healing, justice, and reconciliation
with all of our Indigenous neighbors.
As an engaged institution of higher education, we commit to hiring practices, programs,
and culturally accurate curricula that uplift Indigenous cultures and voices in our
communities.