Land Acknowledgment

The Guthrie would like to acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the Dakota People and honor with gratitude the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations, including the Ojibwe and other Indigenous nations.

This statement is called a land acknowledgment — a practice that many organizations have adopted to recognize and thank the Indigenous inhabitants of the land on which they live and work. It was thoughtfully crafted by Guthrie staff with guidance from Dakota and Ojibwe consultants as well as non-Natives who have incorporated land acknowledgments into their organizations.

Over the past several years, the Guthrie has been working with Indigenous Direction, a consulting group co-founded by Larissa FastHorse (Sicangu Lakota) and Ty Defoe (Haudenosaunee, Six Nations/Anishinaabe Nation) that works with theatrical companies and artists who want to create accurate work about, for and with Indigenous peoples.

This partnership led to Water Is Sacred, a performance that blended ceremony, music, text, dance and discussion to acknowledge how water has been threatened on Indigenous lands, and Stories From the Drum, a project that was born from the hearts and minds of the Native community and culminated in three public performances on the McGuire Proscenium Stage.

As we continue to deepen relationships with the Indigenous communities who hold ties to the Mississippi River and the sacred land on which the Guthrie sits, we recognize this is only the beginning of our journey. 

IMAGE: THE FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY BY SETH EASTMAN, 1848