land acknowledgementS
Check out my page "going beyond land acknowledgement" for more information on how I write (and go beyond writing) my land acknowledgements.

Where i live

I live on lands traditionally inhabited and cared for by the Eno, Tuscarora, Saponi, Occaneechi, and Shakori peoples.
Durham, North Carolina, USA
I live in what is now called Durham County, North Carolina. These lands were stolen by English colonists from the peoples inhabiting them long before I or my ancestors arrived here. Much of these lands were ceded during and after the Cherokee Treaty of 1828.

As with the lands of any sovereign peoples, the territories of native tribes and nations shifted over time, but what we now call Durham and Orange Counties were at various times the home of the Shakori (shah-KOR-ee), Eno (EE-noh), Tuscarora (tusk-uh-ROH-ra), and the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation (oh-kuh-NEE-chee, suh-POH-nee; "OBSN"). While the Shakori and Eno peoples relocated and integrated with the powerful Catawba (kuh-TAW-buh) Nation, the Tuscarora, OBSN, and Catawba continue as distinct tribes to this day. You can find their tribal webpages here: OBSN, Catawba, Tuscarora.
Spotlight on the OBSN
The Indigenous peoples of what is now North Carolina form many vibrant communities across this state and others; these peoples' lives and achievements and histories should be celebrated. I'll focus a bit more on the OBSN here, as their tribal grounds are closest to my current home.

Originally known as the Ye'sah or Saponi peoples, the OBSN has roots in the Ohio Valley, where around 1000 years ago they were forced by a powerful enemy to relocate to south-central Virginia. Nathaniel Bacon’s rebellion in 1676 pushed the Occaneechi into the area now known as the Triangle for many years before returning to Virginia in 1713. Between 1790 and 1920, white intolerance caused a mass migration back to Alamance and Macon counties, to a settlement known as “Texas”.

The Occaneechi people reorganized in 1985 as the Eno-Occaneechi Association, Inc., and amended the name to the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation in 1995. The OBSN was officially recognized by the state of North Carolina in 2002.

That same year, plans began for a tribal landback program, the Occaneechi Homeland Preservation Project, breaking ground in 2005 with the purchase of 25 acres of Texas settlement land in Alamance County. These lands are now the site of a permanent ceremonial ground, tribal orchard, and tribal museum, with more in store. The official tribal grounds of the OBSN are located in Burlington, a 30 minute drive from Duke’s campus.

Check out the OBSN's own land acknowledgement and brief history; I have heavily relied on these resources to write this land acknowledgement.

Where I work

I work on lands that have for hundreds of years supported the Shangaan Tsonga peoples, notably the Makuleke tribe.
Kruger National Park, South Africa
As South Africa's oldest national park, the Kruger National Park has an incredibly complex history regarding colonization, resettlement, dispossession, and other relations with indigenous peoples.

Before being expelled from their lands, members of the Bantu ethnic group Tsonga resided in what we now call the Kruger National Park. In the early 19th century, King Shaka Zulu sent warriors led by Soshangane (so-shan-GAH-neh) to conquer the lands of the Limpopo and Mpumalanga region. Soshangane instead incorporated the Tsonga and nearby Nguni people into the Shangaan tribe. Soshangane remained and taught the now Shangaan tribe advanced Zulu fighting techniques.

In 1898, The Government Game Reserve (later Sabi Game Reserve) was founded by then-president Paul Kruger; in 1926 the park was officially named a National Park. This conservation and game reserve establishment of course came at the expense of the Indigenous peoples already living in the park:
Thousands of black African people were forcibly removed from the lands that were designated for the park and suffered enduring harms from this displacement, from mistreatment by park officials and from wildlife attacks.
-- Jacob Dlamini, Safari Nation
Because of this bloody history of colonialism and being driven out of their own lands, the current relationship with native Shangaan Tsonga peoples is complicated and fraught. Many of these people work as game guides and park rangers, but as with many such communities, poaching is a problem in Kruger (and, one could argue, lies in an ethically gray area between destruction of wildlife and rightful use of traditional tribal lands).

In particular, the Makulele tribe of the Tsonga people currently reside outside the Kruger Park. After the end of apartheid, their land titles were returned; this was the first successful land restitution claim with a South African national park post-apartheid. Currently, around 12,000 members of the Makulele tribe work and live in and around the Kruger Park, and are integral to the economic health of the region.

Resources: