BRENTWOOD – Brentwood will soon start city council and planning commission meetings with a land acknowledgement that recognizes Indigenous communities who have been “displaced and dispossessed.”
The city’s Diversity, Equity, Belonging and Inclusion Committee, which includes Vice Mayor Pa’tanisha Pierson and Councilmember Faye Maloney, approved the action during the committee’s meeting April 15.
According to the city, the statement acknowledges that the city, park, and other structures are located on ancestral homelands.
“Land Acknowledgements are not about assigning blame; rather, they are a crucial first step toward building a more inclusive future that works to eliminate the erasure of Indigenous Peoples’ voices, lives, and history,” the city stated in a staff report. “Recognizing the land is an expression of gratitude and respect for those whose ancestral lands that is now occupied.”
City staff also recommended that Brentwood partner with local Indigenous organizations to develop and present the land acknowledgment that accurately reflects tribes in Brentwood.
“While Contra Costa County’s Office of Education provides Land Acknowledgment templates, this process goes beyond mere recognition,” the city stated in a staff report. “It is the first step in building and nurturing long-term relationships with the Indigenous community, ensuring ongoing collaboration and respect moving forward.”
Pierson said land acknowledgements serve as a “powerful practice” to recognize and honor Indigenous people who originally “owned and stewarded” the land.
“Land acknowledgments bring about educational awareness and require us to acknowledge all of our history, American history, which is all of our history, no matter who we worship, no matter what color our skin is, no matter our gender or our sexual orientation,” said Pierson. “I am committed to truth, remembrance, and I want to work towards a just future for every single person, no matter what percentage they sit in.”
Maloney, who revealed that she’s from an Indigenous Mexican family, proposed something more ceremonial rather than just an acknowledgement.
“I’m Aztec, so that is very important to me. I just want it to be meaningful. I don’t want it to be lost in translation,” said Maloney.
Pierson said she was OK with both ceremonial events and formal acknowledgements, but said that would need to be decided in the next meeting.
