Forest Preserve District of DuPage Hosts Land Acknowledgment Event

Nearly 200 people gathered at Churchill Woods to celebrate and acknowledge those who originally inhabited the lands we now call our own. Many members of the River Prairie Group were in attendance along with some elected officials, members of other DuPage active organizations, and some families and individuals who read about the event and felt compelled to join the gathering. The Forest Preserve was asked to write the following article to describe this special event for our newsletter: 

On December 18^th at Churchill Woods Forest Preserve, a Native American Winter Solstice ceremony was held. As part of this ceremony, Forest Preserve District of DuPage County President Daniel Hebreard acknowledged that Churchill Woods Forest Preserve sits on Native American land. As part of this land acknowledgment, President Hebreard remembered and honored the land as the home of Native peoples, many whose names are lost to history.

Land acknowledgments in public spaces have become more and more common around the region and throughout the country. The public may have encountered it at meetings and events, or noticed words of acknowledgment posted in visible areas.

They are used to commemorate the Indigenous peoples’ principle of kinship to the land. Native peoples continue their profound respect for the land, water, and air. A core tenent is the belief one should live in harmony with nature, which is shared by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. 

At the ceremony, President Hebreard shared, “We honor, with gratitude, the land itself and the Indigenous peoples who have been caretakers of the land throughout generations, past and present.”

Indigenous history is American history, and by learning the culture and histories of Indigenous Peoples we honor those histories for this generation and those to come.