Land Acknowledgment

“As parents, educators and Oregonians, we need to learn, and do better. Who and what was displaced in order for us to be here? Where are these people now? Fortunately, this culture was not erased, and as our Native neighbors have worked and struggled to reclaim their heritage, some among them are willing to bring us all along.”

-Virginia Berg, PWS’ Land Acknowledgement Committee and High School Humanities Teacher

To honor and recognize the Native American People who lived on this land long before our school was here, PWS partnered with Stephanie Craig, and her husband Joe, two members of the the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Stephanie visited campus over the last two years, teaching students about Native plants and their uses, telling stories and traditions from her family and sharing her expertise as a seventh-generation basket weaver. Together we crafted the following acknowledgment, so that we may continue to understand the longstanding history that brought us to reside on this land. In addition to this written acknowledgment, we now have a physical land acknowledgment on campus, where we’ve planted native plants that will be used by local Native basket weavers.

We are grateful for this ongoing relationship.

Portland Waldorf School Land Acknowledgment:

Portland Waldorf School recognizes that we are here because of sacrifices forced upon the original people of this land. We honor with gratitude the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Cowlitz, Silez, Tumwater, Watlala bands of the Chinook, the Tualatin, Kalapuya and many other Tribal nations and people of the Willamette and Columbia River regions, who belong to and have cared for this land since time immemorial. We honor and pay our respects to the Native American people of this land, past, present and future. 

Image credit: Native-Land.ca
This map does not represent or intend to represent official or legal boundaries of any Indigenous nations. To learn about definitive boundaries, contact the nations in question