Livingston Montana is situated on the common ancestral homelands of Siouan, Salish, Shoshone, and Algonquian speaking Nations whose ancestors forged a universal sign language and have shared this place since time immemorial. Seasonal bison migration to and from the abundant natural resources of the Elk River region made for fertile hunting ground and a traditional place for First Peoples to gather for ceremony, trade, to share stories, and maintain kinship ties. 
 

We honor the path they have always shown in caring for this land and waterways and we acknowledge that our present and future must include and recognize indigenous people in a way that our past has not. We recognize with regret the oppressive history inflicted upon—and the continued dispossession of—Indigenous Peoples and animals from this land by European and American colonization. We appreciate with gratitude ancient Native wisdom—our fundamental connection to the grass, wind, and water—knowledge long disdained and dismissed, yet crucial for healing and for nurturing future generations.

 

Learn more about traditional territories on which you stand: https://native-land.ca/
 

Special thanks to Dr. Shane Doyle, Apsáalooke, for his time, insight, and the Danforth Museum of Art for sharing Dr. Doyle's guidance and their land acknowledgment. You can make a gift to Native American Studies at Montana State University here.