Land Acknowledgement

The University of Central Oklahoma recognizes that we gather on land entrusted to the care and protection of the Caddo and Wichita peoples. These lands are part of the wider state of Oklahoma which is shared by the 39 sovereign Indigenous Nations including the Kiowa, Comanche, Osage, Apache and Fort Sill Apache Nations, and is associated with the forced relocation of Nations through the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The university was built in Unassigned Land within seized portions of Indian Territory taken from the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole Nations by the federal government in 1866. Beginning in 1889, this land was distributed through several Land Runs intended to confine and erase Indigenous peoples from this territory. We acknowledge the historical events that have and continue to affect Indigenous people of this land. We pledge to honor and respect Indigenous knowledges and worldviews as we sustain a meaningful relationship with the Sovereign Nations.