University of Washington Campus Tree Tours

The University of Washington acknowledges the Coast Salish peoples of this land, the land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Duwamish, Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations. Since time immemorial, the Coast Salish peoples have been the original stewards of these lands. Colonization and its modern systems of oppression continue to disrupt their work. We hope that this acknowledgement serves as a first step in our commitment to authentic relationships with Native and Indigenous communities moving forward. Additionally, we wish to acknowledge the false narrative applied to the discovery of many of these species. The majority of these species were not in fact discovered by the generally white contingent of botanists arriving in lands besieged by European colonizers, but by the peoples who have lived on those lands since time immemorial. Indigenous peoples have developed connections with these trees going back generations. We would like to acknowledge too that many of these species have distinct practical and medicinal value which were known to the first peoples of their native ranges. Credit for the discovery of these properties is too often given to colonizers who did not in fact discover the uses of these plants. Where possible we have avoided common names which memorialize such botanists whose work disregarded the knowledge of indigenous peoples.