At Black Lives at Cal, we recognize that Berkeley sits on the territory of Huichin (Hoo-Choon), the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo (CH-uh-chen-YO) Ohlone, the successors of the historic and sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County. This land was and continues to be of great importance to the Ohlone people. We recognize that every member of the Berkeley community has benefited from the use and occupation of this land since the institution’s founding in 1868. Consistent with our values of community and diversity, we have a responsibility to acknowledge and make visible the university’s relationship to Native peoples. By offering this Land Acknowledgement, we affirm Indigenous sovereignty and will work to hold University of California Berkeley more accountable to the needs of American Indian and Indigenous peoples. We know that many of you are spread throughout the world on the land of other peoples and would like to take the time to acknowledge that ancestral history as well.
We would also like to recognize that this country would not exist if it was not for the uncompensated, enslaved labor of Black people. We honor the legacy of the African diaspora and Black life, knowledge, and skills stolen due to violence and white supremacy.