Recognition and Reconciliation 

Background
Chadron State College occupies land that, for centuries, has nurtured and supported Indigenous nations. In particular, the United States federal government recognized these territories as indigenous to the Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota nations in the Treaties of Fort Laramie in 1851 and 1868. In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled in “United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians” that the government had illegally taken land in the Black Hills reserved by the 1868 treaty. We recognize that these tribes, and many other Indigenous communities that have called this region home, have therefore been fraudulently dispossessed of their traditional homelands. Furthermore, as a Nebraska state college, the dispossession of Omaha, Pawnee, Ponca, and Otoe-Missouria nations has materially benefited the campus and region. Chadron State College commits itself to recognizing this unjust enrichment, and through individual and collective efforts seeks to reconcile historical and contemporary injustices against Native people. 

Land Acknowledgement Statement 

We acknowledge that Chadron State College is situated on the land of multiple Native nations, past and present. These original homelands are the territory of Indigenous peoples who were largely dispossessed and removed. We specifically acknowledge these are the traditional homelands of the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho people.

Chadron State College pledges to support and advocate for the histories, cultures, languages, and territorial rights of historic and contemporary indigenous peoples of this region. This statement affirms continuous Indigenous presence and rights, acknowledges the ongoing effects of settler colonization, and supports Indigenous struggles for political, legal, and cultural sovereignty.

^{Steve Dubray, medicine man and uncle of Vernon Plenty Bull, left, explains the eagle feather-tying ceremony. Mark Hunt, CSC Security Supervisor and Plenty Bull's work supervisor, right, during the ceremony April 28, in Armstrong Gymnasium. Photo courtesy of Tena Cook- Public Relations.}