Obama Presidential Center Land Acknowledgement

The Obama Foundation acknowledges the sovereign Indigenous peoples who have, since time immemorial, inhabited and stewarded the lands many of us call home. Through extraordinary resilience, Indigenous people have worked to combat and rightfully reverse the forces of settler colonialism. This work toward justice demands the meaningful support of non-Indigenous allies.

We honor the ancestors present with us and celebrate Chicago’s thriving and diverse urban Native community. This area’s lands and waterways are the traditional homelands of the Anishinaabe—the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations. Many Nations, including the Myaamia, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, Kickapoo, and Mascouten, also recognize this area as part of their traditional homelands. 

The Obama Foundation is committed to empowering and uplifting Indigenous voices and perspectives as together we strive to realize a vibrant democratic culture.

“We know the history that we share. It's a history marked by violence and disease and deprivation. Treaties were violated. Promises were broken. You were told your lands, your religion, your cultures, your languages were not yours to keep. And that's a history that we've got to acknowledge if we are to move forward.” - President Obama