‘It’s a start’: School Board rolls out acknowledgements of indigenous people

Last month, Clark County School Board President Irene Cepeda started opening board meetings for the country’s fifth-largest school district in a new way.

“We would also like to begin by acknowledging that the land on which we gather here today is the territorial homelands of the Nuwu, the Moapa Band of Paiutes and the Las Vegas Band of Paiutes,” Cepeda said at a meeting on Sept. 7.

The acknowledgement was implemented with little fanfare, but it was an addition that Cepeda says the board has been working toward since February.

“It’s been really important for me to make sure we’re making those acknowledgements,” she told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Cepeda said the move to incorporate a land acknowledgement at School Board meetings gained traction and materialized after the district held a community engagement meeting on the Moapa River Reservation over the summer.

The Mineral County School District in western Nevada began incorporating land acknowledgements of the Paiute people at its meetings in February of last year, according to the district’s executive secretary, Crystal Sasser.

The Clark County School District’s move to incorporate land acknowledgements at public meetings follows in the footsteps of organizations like the State Board of Education and colleges like UNLV and Nevada State College.

What are land acknowledgements?

Land acknowledgements recognize the indigenous people who were the first to inhabit the lands where present-day institutions now sit.

For Tammi Tiger, a board member with the Nevada Indian Commission, the acknowledgements are important because the story of Native Americans hasn’t been accurately told over the years. The acknowledgements go hand in hand with the movement in recent years to rename Christopher Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples Day, she said.

“Being a part of the land is essential to who we are,” Tiger said. “It’s our identity.”

The latest move by the Clark County School District and its Indian Education Opportunities Program to incorporate a land acknowledgement will be integral in making sure all students are aware of Native American history and the traditional stewards of these lands, Tiger said.

“We are still here,” she said. “We are still part of the community.”

But Cepeda said that in addition to increasing visibility for indigenous communities, it’s important for organizations to carry out real, meaningful actions behind the acknowledgements, lest they become empty platitudes.

“I want to make sure that what we’re saying aligns with our values and we’re doing something about it, otherwise it’s just empty rhetoric,” she said. “I can’t think of one person that enjoys empty rhetoric, empty promises.”

Acknowledgement, but also meaningful change

At UNLV, the acknowledgement of the Southern Paiute people is meant to serve as an opportunity to explore how colonization and systems of oppression have affected Indigenous people, according to the university’s website.

The university also has worked over the years to attach meaningful actions to help its Native American students, according to Mercedes Krause, chair of the university’s Native American Alumni Association.

In addition to its land acknowledgment, Krause said, the university has moved to create events like a Youth Powwow for the Planet and brought on additional staff in the recruitment department to help build up resources to help Native American students with retention and completion of their degrees.

“It touches the heart because they’re doing the work behind it,” Krause said. “When it’s just the land acknowledgement and the work’s not there, it makes you irritated.”

For the Clark County School District, Krause said there is still work to be done, particularly when it comes to ensuring that there is adequate support and outreach to students and families in getting them enrolled in federal Title VI or Johnson O’Malley programs that provide cultural and academic support for Native American students.

Krause said she also hears from parents and teachers in the district who lament how outdated the programming for Native American Heritage Month is and how some curriculum misrepresents Native American history.

Still, Krause acknowledged the heartfelt intention and support from the district and Cepeda earlier this year in discussing the acknowledgement.

“The intention is beautiful,” she said. “It’s a start.”

Contact Lorraine Longhi at 702-387-5298 or llonghi@reviewjournal.com. Follow her at @lolonghi on Twitter.