The push for Indigenous land acknowledgements at Vanderbilt

Published May 3, 2023 at 8:20 AM EDT

Indigenous land acknowledgments recognize communities that previously lived on — and in some cases still live — on land seized by colonial powers. The acknowledgments are common in Australia, but less so here in the U.S.

Some city council meetings start with land acknowledgments. And in the arts, it is not unusual to hear performers acknowledge the land they are on. But it is far from mainstream, especially at universities. Some student groups are trying to change that.

Here & Now’s Deepa Fernandes speaks with Annabelle Littlejohn-Bailey, a student at Vanderbilt University, where the school has not agreed to an acknowledgment. She’s co-president of the Indigenous Scholars Organization.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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