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Land Acknowledgment

The Department of Mechanical Engineering acknowledges that the research and education at the University of Michigan is indebted to the Wyandot and Anishinaabeg (including the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Bodewadmi). In 1817, these nations ceded land in the Treaty at the Foot of the Rapids (also known as the Treaty of Fort Meigs), with the understanding that their children would be provided with educational opportunities. Proceeds from the sale of this land funded the origins of the University of Michigan. Yet records indicate that the university has not realized the treaty’s promise. For the next 130 years, few or no Native Americans were enrolled at the university. Representation remains low to this day. As members of the university and engineering community, the choices we now make about our work and in our interactions with others will determine how far our institutional and disciplinary futures depart from their exclusionary past.

Below are some starting places for learning about the University of Michigan’s origins; about the relationship of higher education to settler colonialism; about organizations that support Indigenous scientists and engineers; and about ways to resist colonialism in science, technology, engineering, and medicine (STEM).

Pronunciation guide

For an example guide to pronouncing the names of the nations listed in the above land acknowledgment, please visit this Northern Illinois University webpage.

Resources and Readings

Organizations and Groups