We Stand In Recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Brooklyn Friends School honors and acknowledges the land on which our school is located is the traditional and unceded territory of the Lenape. We also recognize that members of our community are on territories in New York City which include the lands of the Canarsie, LenapeHoking, Shinnecock, Lekawe, Merrick, Munsee Lenape, Wappinger, Matinecock, Nissaquogue, Setauket, Secatouge, Unkechauge, Massapequas, Merrick, Corchaug, Montaukett and Mannansett. 

We honor all these Native communities and their Elders whom have been here since time immemorial, and are still here, continuing to bring light to their ancient heritage. We recognize the violence, systemic oppression, displacement and colonization contributing to the removal and erasure of these communities resulting in a diaspora of dispossession and a legacy of survival. This acknowledgment is part of our school’s Quaker values; a commitment to moving toward just and compassionate  relations with Indigenous people through recognition of our own history and responsibility. We name this acknowledgment as a living document.

We recognize the longstanding significance of these lands for First nations past and present. We are also conscious that New York City has the largest urban Native population in the United States. Brooklyn Friends School is devoted to  continuing the process of working to dismantle ongoing legacies of settler colonialism, and to recognize the hundreds of Indigenous Nations who continue to resist, live, and uphold their sacred relations across their lands. We also pay our respect to Indigenous elders past, present, and future and to those who have stewarded this land throughout the generations.  We believe that historical awareness of Indigenous exclusion and erasure is critically important on a global level and are committed to working to overcome their effects in our own educational institutions.