Land Acknowledgment

About Our Advocacy

Starting in November 2025, we use the pubic comment period of City Council meetings to read a land acknowledgment to honor the Indigenous Peoples of this area. We'll do this until City Councilors vote to include it in normal proceedings, as this failed to pass in 2022.

What exactly is a land acknowledgment and why is it important? Learn more.

Land Acknowlegment Text

This meeting takes place on the unceded ancestral lands of the Naumkeag and Pawtucket bands of the Massachusett Tribe, from whom the Commonwealth of Massachusetts took its name.

With deep respect and gratitude, we acknowledge the Indigenous caretakers of these lands and waters who have lived here for thousands of years—and who live here in diverse Indigenous communities today.

(This text is used by the Beverly Human Rights Committee.)

Working Group

Wangari Fahari is the Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging for the City of Beverly. She started a land acknowledgment working group in March 2025 - here's how she described it in email:

"My goal is to help the city move beyond symbolic acknowledgment and toward meaningful engagement that supports representation, voice, and shared dialogue. This includes collaborating as we draft a thoughtful land acknowledgement, build trust-based relationships, and identify ways to move from acknowledgment into community-informed action."

Aya, one of our book club organizers, is part of this working group.

Interested in joining the group? Reach out.

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