Sigma Tau Delta dedicates a portion of our convention program and physical space to acknowledge and celebrate the Native American life that calls the land on which we convene their rightful home. Sigma Tau Delta specifically honors the Osage Nation and Otoe-Missouria Tribe who belong to the land on which we hold this year’s convention, an extraordinary home and culture that once spanned much of the midwestern United States. These are just some of the people we pay our respects to, as many Native tribes have ancestral claims to this area.

Furthermore, our convention site falls beneath the parameters of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, one of the countless acts that willfully exploited and betrayed indigenous trust toward colonizing forces, which the Osage Nation and Otoe-Missouria Tribe ultimately fell victim to throughout history. While atrocities such as treaty violations, land theft, and forced displacement via the Indian Removal Act brutalized the Native peoples of this land and violently evicted them from their home, we recognize their ancestors and contributions to culture stay with us now and forever. We affirm the Osage and Otoe-Missouria connection and synergy with this land on which we convene as much as we envision a future that returns them to this place that they rightfully call home, as much as we live in a present that acknowledges their people’s unforgettable perseverance and joy.

As an honor society dedicated to the educational and academic pursuits of literature, storytelling, and meaning-making, we must do our part to lift the stories of displaced, marginalized peoples who call the land we occupy their home. We encourage all convention attendees to pay similar respect to the rightful harbinger’s of their chapter’s land, as well as to visit the Osage Nation and OM Tribe of Oklahoma | The Otoe-Missouria Tribe websites to learn more about the tremendous Osage and Otoe-Missouria cultures and identities that continue to thrive today.

This statement was drafted by the Sigma Tau Delta Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force and the Student Leadership Committee. Careful attention to and consultation of online resources run by indigenous communities and institutions was given, including the Native Governance Center and Native Land Digital.