The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities plans to release a statement that will recognize that the campus resides on Dakota homeland, reported the Minnesota Daily.
The campus occupies land that Dakota people lived on for generations and treaties with the U.S. government forced tribes to relocate, making way for Europeans to establish a town that would become Minneapolis in the mid-1800s, said the report.
“It is important to acknowledge the people on whose land we live, learn and work as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with our tribal nations,” said university president Joan Gabel in an emailed statement to the Minnesota Daily. “I am dedicated to building meaningful relationships, which require continued listening, learning and action.”
