I live and teach in Cortland, New York, on the unceded, ancestral homelands of the Onondaga Nation. The Onondaga are the Firekeepers of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a sovereign alliance of nations whose governance, environmental stewardship, and care for this ecosystem predates the formation of New York State by centuries.
I recognize that the security, comfort, and infrastructure I enjoy today are directly built upon the painful, ongoing history of forced displacement, broken treaties, and systemic erasure of Indigenous peoples. To acknowledge this is to sit with the discomfort of this truth, rejecting historical sugarcoating, and leaning into accountability.
The Onondaga Nation is not a relic of the past; they are a vibrant, sovereign, and contemporary people still living in this area. Their identity is profoundly tied to the local ecology. Whether it is the historic Land Rights Action or local conservation projects , they continue to lead the way in environmental stewardship. My understanding of “the land" must include the living culture, the local waterways, and the enduring sovereignty of its original people.
I believe, though, that giving an acknowledgment without deliberate action is empty. In my life and professional practice, I commit to moving past just words through these continuous actions:
- Financial Redirection: I contribute a self-imposed “land tax" via regular financial donations to Indigenous-led movements, environmental healing funds, and the Indian Law Resource Center, which actively supports the Onondaga Nation's ongoing human rights cases.
- Amplifying Native Leadership: I continuously educate myself on the Onondaga Nation's official Healing and Caretaking Plans and echo their local calls for environmental action, clean water, and ecological respect.
- Lifelong Education: I actively support Indigenous businesses, read Haudenosaunee scholars, and invite my students, colleagues, and collaborators to unlearn colonial biases by researching their own locations via Native Land Digital.