“As part of Loyola Marymount University's recognition of our history, location, and relationship to the indigenous communities in Los Angeles, we acknowledge the Tongva peoples as the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (the Los Angeles basin and southern Channel Islands) and the presence of LMU on this traditional, ancestral, and unceded land. We are grateful to have the opportunity to live, study, create, and be in this place.” – LMU Land Acknowledgement
At the William H. Hannon Library, in particular, we recognize that the land we sit on is not ours. It remains seized territory of the Tongva peoples, who in the face of ongoing settler colonialism continue to claim their place and act as stewards of these lands and waters as they have for the past 8000 years, covering a region that stretches from the Pacific Ocean, where our building stands today, well into what is now San Bernardino County.
We ask guests in our building to take a moment to reflect upon what it would mean to take responsibility for one’s presence on stolen land. Additionally, we encourage everyone to learn more about the history of the land where you reside, by going to native-land.ca.