LAnd acknowledgement

 We recognize that the land we occupy belonged first to the Indigenous People before it came to be known as the city of Nashville, the state of Tennessee, or as the United States of America.  To commemorate the history and legacy of this land, we recognize the following:

• Nashville is built upon the homelands and villages of the Indigenous Peoples of this region including the Shawnee, Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Yuchi tribal nations;

• The name “Tennessee” is derived from “Tanasi”, a Cherokee village which served as the de facto capital of the Overhill Cherokee. The site was submerged by the creation of the Tellico Reservoir in 1979 and now lies under the Tellico Lake in Monroe County;

• in 1838 the Cherokee Nation was forcibly removed to the lands west of the Mississippi, and the northern route of this 'Trail of Tears' passed through Nashville;

• Our ability to live and work in this state is the result of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and forced displacement. To ignore this history would be to perpetuate injustice to the Indigenous Peoples who continue to seek reparations and reclaim lands that were once theirs.

• We provide this land acknowledgement in recognition and respect of Indigenous sovereignty. We recognize that this acknowledgment by itself is a small gesture and that it becomes meaningful when followed by informed action. 

For more information and to support Native Americans in Tennessee visit: http://www.naiatn.org/