Land Acknowledgement Statement

The Spurlock Museum is located on the lands of the Peoria, Kaskaskia, Piankashaw, Wea, Miami, Mascoutin, Odawa, Sauk, Mesquaki, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Chickasaw Nations. These lands were the traditional territory of these Native Nations prior to their forced removal; these lands continue to carry the stories of these Nations and their struggles for survival and identity.

As a land-grant institution, the University of Illinois has a particular responsibility to acknowledge the peoples of these lands, as well as the histories of dispossession that have allowed for the growth of this institution for the past 150 years. We are also obligated to reflect on and actively address these histories and the role that this university has played in shaping them. This acknowledgement and the centering of Native peoples is a start as we move forward for the next 150 years.

The Spurlock Museum is also committed to working with our Native American stakeholders to return ancestors, burial items, and other important cultural materials to their descendants. The Museum partners with the University’s Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) office (external link).

For more information and pronunciations, also see the Office of the Chancellor's Land Acknowledgement Statement (external link) page.