Sugar Tree Therapy

Land Acknowledgment

My childhood home and namesake for this practice, sat on the ancestral and unceded land of the Western Abenaki, the original stewards of the land and water called N’dakinna, later colonized and renamed Vermont. Today, my home and practice resides and operates on land that is the ancestral homeland, and unjustly & illegally taken territory of the Ute, Puebloan, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Apache, Navajo, and 48 other tribal nations historically tied to this land, who have called this land home since time immemorial. I acknowledge the atrocities committed here, including the painful history of genocide, forced assimilation, and efforts to alienate the Indigenous inhabitants from their homeland, supported by the policies of the United States government. I recognize the dispossession and erasure of indigenous communities and take intentional steps to nurture relationships with the land and its inhabitants, create inclusive spaces where all people are welcomed and belong as they are.

This land acknowledgment statement itself is a small gesture, and further action towards forming authentic relationships with the lands, peoples, and non-human relatives is needed for individual and community healing. This statement invites all people to take continued steps to be good stewards of this place as the traditional caretakers once did and still do.