Dear Nevada State Community,
It is not lost on me that today is both Indigenous Peoples’ Day and National Coming Out Day–days that honor and celebrate populations of people and histories that have often been rendered invisible in our collective history. I hope you can appreciate this moment for what it is: making visible and known the voices and experiences of those whose stories have often been ignored and/or muted.
As stated in President Biden’s Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, 2021, “Since time immemorial, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians have built vibrant and diverse cultures — safeguarding land, language, spirit, knowledge, and tradition across the generations. On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, our Nation celebrates the invaluable contributions and resilience of Indigenous peoples, recognizes their inherent sovereignty, and commits to honoring the Federal Government’s trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations.”
Nevada State College Scorpions honor and celebrate the land and resources we are using to sustain ourselves. We are upon the sacred ancestral land of the Nuwu Southern Paiute, Washoe, Numu Northern Paiute, Nuwe Hualapai and Chemehuevi people who live and thrive all around the state of Nevada. We also highlight and uplift all of Nevada’s 27 sovereign tribal nations.
We acknowledge the painful history of genocide and settler colonialism that continues to impact Native & Indigenous communities today, and we honor the people that are past, present, and future stewards of this land.
Today we proudly launch www.nsc.edu/LandAcknowledgement. Here you can:
Resources found at this new webpage were developed by The Office of Community, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (CEDI) and the Native American and Indigenous People’s Coalition, a committee of the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force. Your perspective matters and your help is needed. All Scorpions are invited to contribute to this alliance for combined action and support. To join, email cedi@nsc.edu.
Van Heuvelen, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe from South Dakota, shared that celebrating Indigenous People’s Day should be, “all about reflection, recognition, celebration and an education.” I encourage you to ground yourself in those actions. Now, I hope that you will take a moment to enjoy this timely music video recorded for Nevada State College: Heal Our Land.
Please also find my video update on the happenings from my previous week.
Be Well!
Dr. DeRionne Pollard
President
