Features

Perspectives on the St. Scholastica Land Acknowledgement

By Molly MacGregor (mmacgregor@css.edu)

November 22, 2024

We would like to acknowledge that we are on the traditional lands once home to the Dakota, then the Gitchi Gammi Anishinaabeg (Lake Superior band Ojibwe). 

The Sisters of the St. Scholastica Monastery recognize that our rich Benedictine story does not begin with the “daisy farm” and acknowledge that we gather on the ancestral lands of the Anishinaabe, specifically the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Anishinaabe, Nagaajiwanaang, meaning “where the water stops.” We recognize the past and present and honor the future of the traditional peoples of this land. 

The College of St. Scholastica, guided by our Benedictine values, commits to growing our relationship with the original inhabitants of this land so that our community can grow stronger together. We are called to learn about the rich history, culture and contributions that have historically been suppressed in telling the story of America. We recognize this land’s original stewards before this beautiful educational institution took shape. 

 Did you know that St. Scholastica has a land acknowledgment? Maybe you do after its recent addition to the wall in the hallway between the Student Center and Tower Hall. However, before this addition, the document was something that lived primarily on the school’s website. I first learned about the acknowledgement from a friend this Fall, and ever since, I’ve wondered why it feels unknown among students. Why isn’t it talked about more?

     In an effort to understand what brought about the land acknowledgement, I talked with Amy Bergstrom, who has worked at the College for 14 years and currently serves as the Associate Vice President of Inclusive Excellence and oversees Multicultural Student Services. The previous director of native studies, Jennifer Niemi, left the college last September and in the wake of her absence, Bergstrom has been taking on aspects of that position to keep the department afloat while they search for a new candidate. Part of the reason that search has been difficult may be that the director of the department and the Ojibwe language faculty are not tenure-track positions. Bergstrom confirmed this, saying, “I’m not sure what the perception is of potential applicants, but that is correct. Those positions are not tenure-track faculty positions.” 

     For the time being, Bergstorm continues to support the Native Studies department. Part of that work as fill-in director along with her other roles at the College has been formulating the land acknowledgement. This project is something that Bergstrom approached not just from her vantage point as an administrator, but from a deeply personal perspective as well. Balancing these two identities, Bergstrom pursued this project but not without trepidations. “As a native person, I have mixed feelings around land acknowledgements, in full transparency. And I also recognize the desire and need for organizations and institutions to want to have them.” 

     St. Scholastica has wanted a land acknowledgment for a long time. It’s been “a consistent ask from various folks around campus. Are we going to create a St. Scholastica land acknowledgement?” Bergstrom said. When the College decided to begin work on the document, Bergstrom felt that it was important to involve the Sisters, a vital part of the college’s history. In partnership with Niemi, the previous Native Studies director, Bergstrom talked extensively with the monastery’s archivist, Sister Luce Marie cataloging the history of the land. “It was through that process that we started drafting the acknowledgement, and we pulled in elders from the Fon du Lac reservation to really put some eyes on it. And then we worked through iterations with the prioress at the monastery and with other folks from the Native Studies department. It was a really collective effort.” 

    Bergstrom said that the whole process, “actually took a couple of years, which may sound shocking to people.” She’s right, it did surprise me that it took so long to put together such a short piece, but it also makes sense considering the number of people involved in creating the acknowledgement and the care that went into it. “I think it's good for the college to add that historical lens to the land on which we live, work, and play. Where I come from, it's the ancestors that are hosting us, and that’s a gift that should be honored and recognized, and a history that should be known. If we don’t tell that balanced story, we’re doing a disservice to the college, to the community and to ourselves quite honestly.” 

     After learning about the careful historical research that was involved in creating the acknowledgement, I was left wondering why the history was merely nodded to, but isn’t conveyed in detail. Speaking to this, Bergstrom said: “Quite honestly, it was something I struggled with, because some land acknowledgements you will read are very strong in naming genocide, colonization, racism, for example. Some are a little more broad. Short of writing a historical essay, it’s hard to try to condense generations of a historical story.” 

     While the precise historical progression of the college’s land may not be present in the acknowledgement, a body of research does exist. “We do have that information, we have that trajectory of dates,” Bergstrom said. She also mentioned that a future project outlining this history more comprehensively would be a great follow up to the land acknowledgement. “I think there is some work left. It’s perhaps having a QR code directing people to have a broader context to the historical space and land that the college sits on. I think that’s sort of like phase two.” 

     Bergstrom hopes that this land acknowledgment is a way to start meaningful conversations around the history of the college’s relationship with the native inhabitants of this land. “A land acknowledgement centers that for people. It’s a conversational piece perhaps. You know, you have more questions than you do answers and that, in part, I think is the beauty of it.” 

     While she understands the importance of this acknowledgment on an institutional level, she also shared her indigenous perspective, saying, poignantly, “most native people, we have mixed feelings about these things because we’re not going to get the land back. It’s a reminder of what we’ve lost, and that, depending on the day, can hit harder than others. Harder days than others. Land acknowledgements, although done in really good faith….” she trailed off. “Let’s put it this way: land acknowledgements are not done for us.” I encourage you to read that again: “Land acknowledgements are not done for us.” 

“And I don’t mean that to be negative or facetious,” she continued, “But they’re done for education, further inquiry, understanding.” In other words, they are done for the colonizing institution, not the native people who were colonized.    

     In order for this document to fulfill its purpose, we have to talk about it. I encourage you to read it, and then read it again. Ask questions, and genuinely seek out answers. This is a living document, not something that should simply exist on the website. Bergstrom closed our conversation with a question that I would like to leave you with as well: “How do we express our commitments to native students and communities in the lived realities and transactions of the institutions, because that is what matters at the end of the day.” 

     A land acknowledgement accomplishes very little if it simply lives on the school’s website, as it has for the past few years. The CSS community must collectively do the work to carry this document off the website and into our lives by talking about it, asking questions, and using it as a way to start deeper conversations.