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 Shawnee Tribe who belongs 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. This is just one 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 Shawnee 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 Shawnee 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 Shawnee Tribe website to learn more about the tremendous culture that continues 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.