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Land Acknowledgment Toolkit

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT TOOLKIT

EL CAMINO COLLEGE: HONORING THE HISTORY WE STAND ON

 

PURPOSE: The purpose of the land acknowledgement toolkit is to be a resource and beacon to the El Camino College (ECC) community in acknowledging the original nations on whose lands we reside, learn, and work. This toolkit recognizes and affirms the rights of the Gabrielino-Tongva Tribe and all Indigenous peoples to equal access in education and academic advancement. We show reverence to the history we stand on and endeavor to increase trust going forward in building a respectful relationship with our Native American, Indigenous peoples, and First Nations.

 

Why Land Acknowledgement: To pay tribute to the Indigenous Peoples who have been stewards of the land. Acknowledgment is an expression of gratitude and appreciation to those whose land you live on and occupy and is a way of honoring them. It is a protocol and tradition for Indigenous Peoples that dates to time immemorial.

 

What is a Land Acknowledgment: It is a statement that recognizes and respects the Indigenous peoples as traditional caretakers of the land. It gives those who benefit from the land they occupy, an opportunity to honor the original stewards of that land and give consideration to that historical connection.

 

Recognition: General Statement: El Camino College stands on the ancestral homeland of the Gabrielino-Tongva people, the traditional caretakers of Tovaangar (the Los Angeles Basin and Southern Channel Islands). We recognize that this institution benefits from the violent displacement and disenfranchisement of those who inhabited and stewarded this land for generations. We pay our respect to the Gabrielino-Tongva people, past and present, and their connection to this space.   

  
We are also aware of the racially discriminatory condemnation of the Gordon Manor tract, a Black residential development project proposed for this land in 1926. As a disseminator of truth in education, we acknowledge a history of involuntary sacrifice that allowed for the establishment and continued existence of El Camino College.

 

Recognition - Syllabus: Our class convenes on the ancestral land of the Gabrielino-Tongva people, the traditional caretakers of Tovaangar (Los Angeles basin, So. Channel Islands).  The El Camino College community benefits from the violent displacement and disenfranchisement of those who lived on this land for generations.  We pay our respect to the Gabrielino-Tongva people, past and present, and their connection to this space.  We are also aware of the racially discriminatory condemnation of the Gordon Manor tract, a Black residential development project proposed for this land in 1926. We acknowledge a history of involuntary sacrifice that allowed for the establishment and continued existence of El Camino College.  

 

Recognition - Email: Located on the ancestral homeland of the Gabrielino-Tongva people, the traditional caretakers of Tovaangar (the Los Angeles Basin and Southern Channel Islands). 

 

Recognition - Graduation and Other College Affiliated Events: On this day, we give homage to the Gabrielino-Tongva people, the traditional caretakers of this land, Tovaangar on which the El Camino campus resides. We recognize that this institution benefits from the violent displacement and disenfranchisement of those who inhabited and stewarded this land for generations. We pay our respect to the Gabrielino-Tongva people, past and present, and their connection to this space.  We are also aware of the racially discriminatory condemnation of the Gordon Manor tract, a Black residential development project proposed for this land in 1926. We acknowledge a history of involuntary sacrifice that allowed for the establishment and continued existence of El Camino College.

 

Resources - Glossary:

Tovaangar: means “the world,” this hill and everything around it, as seen through the eyes of the Tongva, the first residents of the land.

California Indians: member of any of the Native American peoples who have traditionally resided in the area roughly corresponding to the present states of California (U.S.) and northern Baja California (Mex.).     

Native Americans: a member of any of the indigenous peoples of North, Central, and South America, especially those indigenous to what is now the continental US.

Indigenous: originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native. Indigenous communities, peoples and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing on those territories, or parts of them.

First Nations: any of a number of peoples especially of Canada who are indigenous to the North American continent; In Canada, the name First Nations refers to one of three major, legally recognized groups of aboriginal peoples, the other two being the Inuit and the Metis. In the United States, First Nations Peoples are those indigenous to the 50 states and who have rights to sovereignty, to self-determination, to independence.     

 

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