In April 2021, Tulane University’s Native American Affinity Group submitted a list of demands to Tulane’s Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. The number one demand: a land acknowledgment.  

“Indigenous communities are present tense. That is essential,” John DePriest said.  

DePriest is a professor who is one of the few members of the Tulane faculty who identifies as a Native American person, as a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He is a member of NAAF, a student and faculty group supporting Native American community members at Tulane.  

The Jena Band of Choctaw Indians is one of four federally recognized tribes in Louisiana, and one of the four tribes mentioned in Tulane’s official land acknowledgment.  

“The Choctaw, Houma, Chitimacha, Biloxi, and other Native peoples have lived on this land since time immemorial. Their identities are inextricably connected to this place. With gratitude and honor, Tulane University pays tribute to the original inhabitants of this land,” the acknowledgment states.  

In addition to the acknowledgment, Chief Diversity Officer Annelise Singh included a pronunciation guide, a justification of its use, a guide on how to use it, a reference to Native American people’s feelings about the land acknowledgment and extensive resources to educate oneself on Native American communities.  

Keely Smith, professor of Native American Studies, praised the extensiveness of the acknowledgment’s guide for use. “It seems to me like they did a really good job,” she said.  

Tulane began the process of creating a land acknowledgment on Sept. 13, 2021, when they reached out to two local Native American experts to write it: Colleen Billiot and John Barbry. 

Billiot is a member of the United Houma Nation, one of the tribes mentioned directly in the Tulane land acknowledgment. She is also a Ph.D. student at Tulane and an undergraduate alumna. 

Barbry is the director of development and programming for the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe, a tribe also mentioned in Tulane’s land acknowledgment.  

Singh contacted Billiot and Barbry at the suggestion of DePriest and Native American studies professor Judith Maxwell. Singh asked if the two would serve as consultants for Tulane’s first land acknowledgment.  

“Over a period of a few months, they drafted the land acknowledgement,” Singh said. “There was some feedback from the president’s office, and we were very excited to share the land acknowledgement, which is shared at all of our large events on campus.”  

On Oct. 22, 2021, Billiot and Barbry submitted their draft to Singh.  

The draft is nearly identical to the published land acknowledgment currently displayed on Tulane’s website; the first three paragraphs and the final paragraph are written exactly the same. However, the fourth paragraph in Billiot and Barbry’s draft was altered.  

“All of this was done in the shadow of institutional harm, subjugation by warring colonial forces, and abusive federal policies resulting in slavery, massacres, and forced expulsion of Natives from Louisiana. We remember and pay respect to those who did not survive,” the draft states.  

The current, published acknowledgment’s fourth paragraph states, “We recognize that as a result of broken treaties and involuntary removals, Native Americans were often forced from their lands. We remember and pay respect to the communities impacted by these actions.”  

“As is consistent with any statement made by the university, our land acknowledgment underwent content revisions from its first draft. The revisions were based on input from many sources and a survey of land acknowledgements from other institutions around the country,” Mike Strecker, vice president for news and media relations and Tulane spokesperson, said in a statement. 

Barbry understood Tulane’s decision to alter his draft. “I don’t take offense,” he said. “I was from the mindset, you paid for it, you gave us an honorarium. If you’re uncomfortable with that, that’s up to you.”  

However, he believes that removing the section on the harm that Native Americans faced takes away from the full picture of Native American history and culture.  

“My perspective was, you’ve diminished one of the most important things in this acknowledgement,” Billiot said.  

“It’s not just broken treaties and involuntary removals. There were deaths, and a significant part of that is those that did not survive, and that’s the trauma that us as indigenous people live with,” Storm Wells, Tulane graduate student, employee and president of Indigenous Students, Helpers, Leaders and Allies, said.  

Billiot and Barbry are given credit as consultants at the end of the land acknowledgment.  

The land acknowledgment is shared at convocation and commencement, and Singh encourages all schools to use it during campus events.  

“You’ll probably notice its importance because it’s listed on every single web page at the university,” Singh said.  

While Billiot is critical of the published version of the acknowledgment, she is appreciative of other aspects of Tulane’s relationship with Native American communities.  

“I might have issues with certain staff or with the institution about the land acknowledgement. But at the same time,” Billiot said, “Tulane, or other people at Tulane, have made it possible for me to study, very much aware that I’m an indigenous person who works within my community and in this area. And they felt that it was important enough to have me study. So, it’s tough. I don’t think it’s very black and white — I think it’s shades of gray.” 

NAAF’s 2021 list of demands contained 25 items in addition to the land acknowledgment. “They’ve been working through it, including accomplishing a handful of meaningful goals,” DePriest said.  

The 10th demand asks for the “creation of a Native American Studies major.” As of today, the Native American and Indigenous Studies minor is expanding.  

Smith is a new hire for the Native American and Indigenous Studies program.  

“The land acknowledgment is just the beginning of important relationships, instead of the one-and-done kind of thing,” Smith said.  

DePriest is in the process of developing a Choctaw language course at Tulane, the language of his tribe. The course will debut in the spring semester, another expansion to the minor. 

DePriest cites the new course as one of many meaningful steps Tulane has taken to engage with Native American communities. Singh waived the minimum number of students requirement in order to officially establish ISHLA. “The number of Indigenous-identifying students is so low that that barrier was really difficult to reach,” DePriest said.  

“We knew from our deep listening that land acknowledgements were important,” Singh said, “but it was also not the beginning, middle or end of the work.” 

“I love how the university has Native American studies now, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs is really trying to support ISHLA,” Wells said.  

Maxwell worked with local Tunica Tribe members to develop an online Tunica dictionary in order to preserve the tribe’s language. Parts of the dictionary are only available to tribal members.  

“Some things you don’t want outsiders to know,” Maxwell said. 

While many see the land acknowledgment as a singular step in a process of a productive relationship between Tulane and local Native American communities and people, Barbry also recognizes the acknowledgment itself as important.  

“To me, the rationale, the justification for an acknowledgement [is] to point out to people, ‘Hey, you know what? We were here. We are still here.’”