Ohio U lacks meaningful action in support of Indigenous peoples

Screenshot of the banner that Ohio University included on their diversity and inclusion site. Photo courtesy of Ohio University.

On Oct. 11, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Ohio University acknowledged the day with a banner on its diversity and inclusion site. 

To celebrate Native American Heritage Month in November, Anton Treuer, a professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University, gave a talk titled “Sovereignty is Sacred: Sharing our Rights and Cultures.” Graduate student Sarah Liese, who is Chippewa, Cree and Navajo and a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, was interviewed about her experiences on campus. Liese was also a 2017 Native American Journalist Association Fellow. 

Despite this acknowledgement, Ohio U still lists Columbus Day as an observed holiday on Nov. 26, with no mention of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. 

Ohio U is also reportedly working on a land acknowledgement in a committee headed by Bob Klein, a professor in the College of Arts and Science and the executive director of the Alliance of Indigenous Math Circles. However, both Executive Director of Communications Carly Leatherwood and Klein declined to give any details about the committee’s work besides its existence. 

“The University is currently engaged in a process to create an official land acknowledgement statement through the work of the Land Acknowledgement committee. The committee, chaired by Dr. Bob Klein, professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, was created as one of the 2021 action items in OHIO’s Inclusive Excellence Strategic Plan. We are planning to have a draft statement for review by leadership for consideration and next steps, in the near future,” Leatherwood wrote in an email statement. 

In the guide “An Advocate’s Guide to Supporting Indigenous Peoples’ Day” by IllumiNative, an Indigenous-led network that provides information on Indigenous topics, it explained that Indigenous Peoples’ Day, celebrated instead of Columbus Day, acknowledges the past, present and future of Indigenous Peoples in the United States as well as the extensive harm colonialism has done, and continues to do, to Indigenous Peoples. 

“Indigenous Peoples’ Day moves beyond the narrative of oppression and honors the histories, cultures, contributions, and resilience of contemporary Native peoples,” the guide added.

IllumiNative explains that Indigenous people are grossly underrepresented in mainstream media, and this invisibility allows for continued discrimination and prejudice to go unnoticed. Recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day gives increased visibility to Native Americans, pushes back on the false narratives around colonization perpetuated by Columbus Day and brings non-Native and Native communities together in the United States and globally. 

“Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day, in lieu of Columbus Day, is a step forward towards undoing a legacy of bias and discrimination facing Native peoples,” IllumiNative wrote.

Ohio U acknowledged Indigenous Peoples’ in a news release for Hispanic Heritage month and on the website for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. However, it did not host any events for the day.

The news release read: “An Indigenous Peoples Day and Panel will be held Oct. 11. The time and location within Baker University Center will be announced at a later date.” However, there was no update to the release or additional information given about the panel. The release was published Sept. 27.

Leatherwood wrote in an email that Ohio U follows the state of Ohio’s calendar for observances of holidays which does not include Indigenous Peoples’ Day. 

Leatherwood also wrote that Ohio U’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion is working on recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day.

President Joe Biden issued a proclamation Oct. 8 marking Oct. 11 as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

“On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, our Nation celebrates the invaluable contributions and resilience of Indigenous peoples, recognizes their inherent sovereignty, and commits to honoring the Federal Government’s trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations,” the proclamation read.

Ohio State University planned a virtual panel to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day. According to OSU’s website, there was a panel discussing the removal of Potawatomi from the southern Lake Michigan area and the treaties associated with it. 

Miami University held an in-person event, recognizing the removal of the Myaamia people from the area around present-day Oxford, Ohio, where Miami is located. 

“The Day of Reflection seeks to acknowledge and remember the history of the Myaamia people and the hardships their ancestors endured. In October 1846, the Miami Tribe was forcibly removed from their homelands. On Oct. 11, the Tribe passed through Butler County on the Miami and Erie Canal, along the Great Miami River, as they were taken to a new reservation in what would later become Kansas,” the news release about the event said. 

Participants listened to speakers and participated in a walkthrough on campus. 

Miami U also observed both Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Columbus Day on Nov. 26. 

Land acknowledgements, as explained by IllumiNative in their land acknowledgement guide, are formal statements that recognize the Indigenous peoples who occupied the land that the institution now occupies, recognizes the history of how the land was taken from them and recognizes those Indigenous peoples in the present day. 

IllumiNative stressed that land acknowledgements must be well-researched, and that the institution should work with the tribes that formerly inhabited that land. Land acknowledgements are also not the “last step.” IllumiNative wrote that it is important to hire Native people and creating opportunities for them within the institution. 

“Land acknowledgments that are done to check a box or to be politically correct are performative and insincere,” IllumiNative wrote. 

Klein and Leatherwood did not answer whether or not Ohio U is working with tribes that formerly inhabited land that Ohio U is on. 

In its Stepping Out and Stepping Up initiative, OSU is working with tribes who formerly inhabited land that OSU is on in creating their land acknowledgement, as well as working with the tribes that land was sold and funds used to create OSU through the Morrill Act. 

Miami University has a land acknowledgement that, according to their website, was created through work with the Miami Tribe. Miami U and the Miami tribe have an ongoing relationship and have created space for Myaamia students to attend the university. 

This story was held for a later date due to Ohio U’s delayed response.