The CRRC Board of Directors developed a land acknowledgment which is an opportunity to remember the story that brought us to reside on the land. It is our opportunity to honor the relationship to place that has been fostered by Indigenous peoples. Wherever we reside, the relationship we have to the land is the direct result of the actions of those who came before us. If we seek to have a long story on the land, we must understand that we are presently in the story of the land and the best way to inform our action for sustainability comes from those who have sustained the land for thousands of years. Indigenous peoples still reside in our lands through not only our continued presence but also through the land, plant, and animal relations they have been in reciprocity since time immemorial. Naming those who have fostered these connections to the place of our current action is a small token, and a first step to acknowledging and healing our collective relationships to those places.
We Would Like to Acknowledge the Space and Land We Utilize for Our Marine Institute in Seward, And the Land of Our Tribes, As the Traditional Region of The Chugach People of Alaska. The Chugach People Encompass the Sugpiaq, Which Translates to “Like A Real Person”, and Alutiiq People Who Have Lived, And Continue to Live, Off the Coastal Land and Waters of the Gulf of Alaska, Prince William Sound, Lower Cook Inlet, and Resurrection Bay for Thousands of Years.
We Want to Acknowledge Our Land and Water, Which Brings Us Life and Culture, and Our Tribes Who Maintain Our Relationship with The Land – These Include Cordova and The Native Village of Eyak, Nanwalek, Nuchek, Port Graham, Seward, and The Qutekcak Native Tribe, Tatitlek, And the Valdez Native Tribe. The Purpose of This Statement Is for Acknowledgment, Appreciation, And Respect for Our Land, Waters, And People.
