Land Acknowledgment
Land Acknowledgments have been integrated into the opening of public events by organizations and institutions worldwide to acknowledge the First Peoples of those regions.
In July 2024, LA County Library began presenting a Land Acknowledgment at all public programs. Developed over many months of collaboration with leaders from local Tribes, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to adopt a Land Acknowledgment for the County of Los Angeles on November 1, 2022.
Land Acknowledgment
The County of Los Angeles recognizes that we occupy land originally and still inhabited and cared for by the Tongva, Tataviam, Serrano, Kizh, and Chumash Peoples. We honor and pay respect to their elders and descendants — past, present, and emerging — as they continue their stewardship of these lands and waters. We acknowledge that settler colonization resulted in land seizure, disease, subjugation, slavery, relocation, broken promises, genocide, and multigenerational trauma. This acknowledgment demonstrates our responsibility and commitment to truth, healing, and reconciliation and to elevating the stories, culture, and community of the original inhabitants of Los Angeles County. We are grateful to have the opportunity to live and work on these ancestral lands. We are dedicated to growing and sustaining relationships with Native peoples and local tribal governments, including (in no particular order) the
Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians
Gabrielino Tongva Indians of California Tribal Council
Gabrieleno/Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians
Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians – Kizh Nation
San Manuel Band of Mission Indians
San Fernando Band of Mission Indians
Please visit the County of Los Angeles Land Acknowledgment website to learn more.
Visit the American Indian Resource Center at LA County Library to learn more about events, classes, and programs pertaining to American Indians – local, regional, and national – on topics ranging from health issues, education, legal issues, economic issues, politics, and culture.
Frequently Asked Questions
A Land Acknowledgment is a statement that recognizes an area’s original inhabitants who have been forcibly dispossessed of their homelands and is a step toward recognizing the negative impacts these communities have endured and continue to endure, as a result. It honors the First Peoples and recognizes the connection with the land, their continued reciprocal stewardship of the lands and waters, and their ongoing work to preserve and protect the land.
Acknowledgment is a first step toward correcting the misinformation and harmful practices that erase the history and culture of the First Peoples. When done properly, a formal land acknowledgment can be an opening to greater public consciousness of Native American sovereignty and a move toward creating equitable relationships and beginning reconciliation with the First Peoples.
In recent years, the County has been active in both uplifting the histories of what is now known as Los Angeles County and prioritizing equity for communities countywide. The County is also committed to actively engaging in repairing relationships and restorative collaboration with Native communities.
The Countywide Land Acknowledgment, which was adopted by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (Board) in November 2022, is intended to center the First Peoples by highlighting their strength, resilience, and continued contribution to the greater Los Angeles County community. It makes clear that the First Peoples are still here, and they have not left their ancestral lands.
Representatives from local Tribes also shared their hope that the Countywide Land Acknowledgment could positively impact outcomes by keeping local Tribes and the American Indian and Alaska Native community at the forefront during County decision-making processes.
On June 23, 2020, Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis introduced a motion, co-authored by former Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, to adopt the Countywide Cultural Policy, which was unanimously adopted by the Board. The Cultural Policy calls for the County to “identify ways to acknowledge Indigenous Peoples as traditional stewards of this land at County public events and ceremonial functions and celebrate the contributions of culture bearers and traditional arts practices of diverse communities.” Beginning in October 2021, the County, through the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission (LANAIC) and the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture (Arts and Culture), embarked on a process to gather input to its understanding of the history of the region’s First Peoples and the harms that have been perpetuated and to gather input on the development of a formal land acknowledgment for the County.
From November 2021 to June 2022, Arts and Culture, the LANAIC, and its consultant team conducted extensive outreach to 22 California Native American Tribes (Tribes), with generally five tribal affiliations, that have ties to the Los Angeles County region, as identified by the State of California Native American Heritage Commission.
The following Tribes appointed a representative to participate on a working group to contribute recommendations, guidance, and historic and cultural information that would inform the development of a formal land acknowledgment for the County:
- Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians
- Gabrielino Tongva Indians of California Tribal Council
- Gabrieleno/Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians
- San Manuel Band of Mission Indians
- San Fernando Band of Mission Indians
One Tribe – the Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians – Kizh Nation (Kizh) – contacted the LANAIC and requested a separate process. The Kizh were provided an opportunity to review the draft Countywide Land Acknowledgment ahead of the Board motion to adopt it.
