LAND PROMISE

We’re not guests on this land of the Kalapuya because we were never invited. We came here, set up camp, and claimed space as “ours” when we never given permission to do so. We acknowledge that stating a “land acknowledgement” is not actionable and does exactly nothing to support giving land back.

We acknowledge that we’re squatters on this land that isn’t ours, and that our privilege comes at the result of mass genocide, state-sanctioned violence, and continued oppression of Indigenous peoples who have been forcefully separated from the land.

We acknowledge that we need to be better allies and strive to be more thoughtful inhabitants of the spaces we occupy - both in terms of the literal land and also in mental health spaces and in our broader community. We are working to do this through continual un-learning and critical examination of our own power and privilege and working to take up less space. We are working to be better stewards of the physical land that we occupy through thoughtful and regenerative planting and participation in conservation efforts.

We are working to honor the experience of the body and internal wisdom/knowing and not just the “logic” of the mind.

We work to remember that there are many truths and ways of being, and that linear thinking and “expert opinion” are products of domination and are poor substitutes for lived experience.

We acknowledge that the history of broken treaties has shown that words, even when written, are empty. We acknowledge that we definitely need to do better.