We understand that we are on Nisenan and Lenape land that was never ceded.
We acknowledge that the Nisenan and Lenape people are still here among us today.
Moxie Bookkeeping is a bi-coastal company, located in Brooklyn, NY and Grass Valley, CA.
Brooklyn is located on the ancestral homeland of the Lenape tribe. Grass Valley is located on the ancestral homeland of the Nisenan tribe.
At Moxie, acknowledgment of the fact that we occupy stolen lands is the least we can do. The purpose of this acknowledgment is to start a conversation.
Kanyon Sayers-Roods, a Mutsun Ohlone activist in Northern California, says,
“The acknowledgment process is about asking, What does it mean to live in a post-colonial world? What did it take for us to get here? And how can we be accountable to our part in history?”
Moxie Bookkeeping supports the work of CALIFORNIA HERITAGE: INDIGENOUS RESEARCH PROJECT (CHIRP).
CHIRP is a 501c3 charitable organization originally founded to research, document, and preserve the history and culture of the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe.
Because the Nevada City Rancheria is no longer recognized by the United States, Tribal members are denied access to the federal Indian programs created to support their health, education, housing, and economic stability.
With financial and community support, CHIRP seeks to “creatively mimic” programs that will support the preservation, protection, and perpetuation of the Nisenan people and their culture into the future, while advocating for the restoration of the Nevada City Rancheria’s federal recognition.
WHERE DO I START?
If you are looking for concrete ways to support native peoples of the land you live and work on, here is how you can begin:
- Identify
- The first step is identifying the traditional inhabitants of the lands you’re on. This task may be complicated by multiple and contested histories … So make sure to proceed with care, doing good research before making statements of acknowledgment.
- Articulate
- Once you’ve identified the group(s) who should be recognized, formulate the statement.
- Deliver
- Offer your acknowledgment as the first element of a welcome to the next public gathering or event that you host.
- Greater support
- Consider financial donations to your local tribe, nation, or native organization
Indigenous people have suffered from an intentional banishing of their identity — perpetuated by centuries of cultural whitewashing, forced removal, and genocide — all of which have conspired to erase public knowledge of the myriad of tribes and their long presence with the ancestral homeland.
If you are interested in learning more about the Lenape, please visit The Lenape Center
For more information about the Nisenan, you can visit https://www.nisenan.org/ or https://nevadacityrancheria.org/ As well, you can take a guided tour of Nisenan cultural sites in the Sierra Nevada