Home
Aerial view of St. Thomas

Land Acknowledgment

Acknowledging this Land and History

The University of St. Thomas occupies the ancestral and current homelands of the Dakota people. By actively committing ourselves to truth telling, relationship building, wound healing, and justice seeking, we humbly offer our respect to the Dakota Elders and people, to Indigenous communities beyond the Dakota, and to the sacredness of “the land where the waters reflect the skies”—“Mni Sota Makoce.”

Pronunciation Note: min-ah-so-tah muh-coh-chay; alternative: mi-nee-show-tah muh-coh-chay

The university acknowledges the importance of complementing the above land acknowledgment with additional language in appropriate settings. Internal users can visit for more information.

Questions?

For more information, please contact the Office for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion by emailing odei@stthomas.edu.

Beyond the Land Acknowledgment

Native American communities have shared with us that actions are far more important than words. The Native Governance Center also indicates that acknowledging the land and educating our communities about past injustices is a good first step.

St. Thomas recognizes that work needs to be done to build relationships and partnerships with Native communities. St. Thomas is taking specific steps as a university to strive towards its commitment to truth telling, relationship building, wound healing, and seeking justice.

  • Truth Telling
  • Relationship Building
  • Wound Healing
  • Justice Seeking

    • Truth Telling

    • The Racial Justice Initiative promotes racial justice education, facilitates research, explores community partnerships, and encourages dialogue and critical conversations.
    • The Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) is working with the Native Governance Center and other Indigenous groups to provide educational training for the St. Thomas community.
    • The Office of Mission continues its outreach to Native American communities to explore several partnerships and new relationships.
    • – a non-profit program in the College of Arts and Sciences – fosters representative truth telling by introducing diverse high school students to the world of journalism and storytelling, empowering them to report on issues and stories that matter to their communities.

    Relationship Building

    • The Office of Mission and VP for Mission Fr. Chris Collins continues its outreach to Native American communities that includes exploring partnerships with Tribal Colleges that include transfer opportunities and partnering with youth program in Minneapolis.
    • Scholarships are provided for students from underrepresented communities, including those who identify as Native American.
    • Student Diversity & Inclusion Services conducts outreach to enrolled students who identify as part or full Native American.
    • The Morrison Family College of Health continues its partnership with the Indian Health Board to provide practicum opportunities and interships with Native communities
    • The Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, through the Beyond Land Acknowledgment Project, has partnered with Mike Klein, Ed.D, Justice and Peace Studies, as a research fellow to assess the university and local Indigenous communities around relationship building and truth telling.

    Wound Healing

    • , a joint initiative between the School of Education and Morrison Family College of Health, was founded to develop, support, and advance the field of trauma-informed and trauma-engaged education.
    • at the St. Thomas School of Law teaches law students, and the broader legal community, how to utilize restorative justice practices within our courts and communities in order to facilitate healing, build bridges, and bring about a more just and inclusive society.

    Justice Seeking

    • The St. Thomas is working on several fronts to increase the number of teachers of color and Indigenous teachers in our K-12 schools to help decrease the opportunities gaps that exist for students of color and indigenous students across Minnesota.
    • The Interprofessional Center for Counseling and Legal Services (IPC) on our Minneapolis campus helps individual clients and communities in need.

    Truth Telling

    Truth Telling

    • The Racial Justice Initiative promotes racial justice education, facilitates research, explores community partnerships, and encourages dialogue and critical conversations.
    • The Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) is working with the Native Governance Center and other Indigenous groups to provide educational training for the St. Thomas community.
    • The Office of Mission continues its outreach to Native American communities to explore several partnerships and new relationships.
    • – a non-profit program in the College of Arts and Sciences – fosters representative truth telling by introducing diverse high school students to the world of journalism and storytelling, empowering them to report on issues and stories that matter to their communities.

    Relationship Building

    Relationship Building

    • The Office of Mission and VP for Mission Fr. Chris Collins continues its outreach to Native American communities that includes exploring partnerships with Tribal Colleges that include transfer opportunities and partnering with youth program in Minneapolis.
    • Scholarships are provided for students from underrepresented communities, including those who identify as Native American.
    • Student Diversity & Inclusion Services conducts outreach to enrolled students who identify as part or full Native American.
    • The Morrison Family College of Health continues its partnership with the Indian Health Board to provide practicum opportunities and interships with Native communities
    • The Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, through the Beyond Land Acknowledgment Project, has partnered with Mike Klein, Ed.D, Justice and Peace Studies, as a research fellow to assess the university and local Indigenous communities around relationship building and truth telling.

    Wound Healing

    Wound Healing

    • , a joint initiative between the School of Education and Morrison Family College of Health, was founded to develop, support, and advance the field of trauma-informed and trauma-engaged education.
    • at the St. Thomas School of Law teaches law students, and the broader legal community, how to utilize restorative justice practices within our courts and communities in order to facilitate healing, build bridges, and bring about a more just and inclusive society.

    Justice Seeking

    Justice Seeking

    • The St. Thomas is working on several fronts to increase the number of teachers of color and Indigenous teachers in our K-12 schools to help decrease the opportunities gaps that exist for students of color and indigenous students across Minnesota.
    • The Interprofessional Center for Counseling and Legal Services (IPC) on our Minneapolis campus helps individual clients and communities in need.

    More About Our History and Peoples

    The University of St. Thomas is committed to furthering our understanding of the impact of our presence.

    General Information

    • Native Governance Center.
    • United Nations.
    • Minnesota Historical Society.
    • Minnesota Humanities Center et. al.

    Local Indigenous Groups

    The area has connections to the seven formal Ojibwe tribes as well as four of the recognized Dakota communities, and the unrecognized Mendota community of the Dakota. 

    Ojibwe: Bois Forte; Fond du Lac; Grand Portage; Leech Lake; Mille Lacs; Red Lake; White Earth  

    Dakota: Lower Sioux; Prairie Island; Shakopee Mdewakanton; Upper Sioux   

    Recommended Readings

    • Klein, Mike. (Independent, 2021)
    • Klein, Mike. (Independent, 2022)
    • Sleeper-Smith, Susan. et al. (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2015)
    • Treuer, Anton.  (St. Paul: Borealis Books, 2012)

    Media

    Podcast: This American Life: Little War on the Prairie

    This American Life: Little War on the Prairie

    "Growing up in Mankato, Minnesota, John Biewen says, nobody ever talked about the most important historical event ever to happen there: in 1862, it was the site of the largest mass execution in U.S. history. Thirty-eight Dakota Indians were hanged after a war with white settlers. John went back to Minnesota to figure out what really happened 150 years ago, and why Minnesotans didn’t talk about it much after." -This American Life

    Podcast: This Land: The Case

    This Land: The Case

    "Patrick Murphy was convicted of murder by the state of Oklahoma in 2000. But defense attorneys soon discovered that his conviction may have been based on a lie. Hosted by Rebecca Nagle, an Oklahoma journalist and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, this podcast will provide an in depth look at how a cut and dry murder case opened an investigation into half the land in Oklahoma and the treaty rights of five tribes. Follow along to find out what’s at stake, the Trump administration’s involvement, the larger right wing attack on tribal sovereignty and how one unique case resulted in the largest restoration of tribal land in US history." -Crooked Media