Land Acknowledgement and Reparations

Land Acknowledgment

James Reeb UU Congregation occupies unceded ancestral Ho-Chunk land, a place their nation has called Teejop since time immemorial. In an 1832 treaty, the Ho-Chunk were forced to cede this territory. Decades of ethnic cleansing followed when both the federal and state government repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, sought to forcibly remove the Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin.

This history of colonization informs our shared future of collaboration and innovation.

We respect the inherent sovereignty of the Ho-Chunk Nation, along with the eleven other First Nations of Wisconsin.

We seek to honor the history and spirit of this land and its people by contributing to causes and projects important to modern day people of the First Nations, and by avoiding the colonization of spiritual practices of people of the First Nations.

We are also figuring out how to begin the work of reparations.

[October 2023 Note: This is page and statement are works in progress.]

Reparations Work at JRUUC

Knowing that a land acknowledgement is only words, our congregation is in the process of discerning the reparations work we’ll engage in. We hold a workshop after worship on the first Sunday of each month, in which we’re having a conversation framed by Maimonides’ five steps of repair as articulated in Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg’s book On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World. All are invited to be part of these conversations, whether or not you’ve participated in the past. You can click on these links to find notes from past sessions and the slide show we’re using for the conversations.

October 2023 Land Acknowledgment Workshop with Rev. Kerri Parker: