In the News: Follett Chair Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy Featured in Article About Indigenous Land Acknowledgments

Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy, Follett Chair for Dominican University’s School of Information Studies, is quoted in an NPR news piece about Indigenous land acknowledgments.

The March 15, 2023 article explores land acknowledgments — formal statements often read at public events to recognize the Indigenous communities that once occupied the event space — and the debate among Indigenous leaders about their value.

The article notes that Baldy, an associate professor of Native American studies at California State Polytechnic University and a member of the member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe of California, believes acknowledgments can be a start toward action.

"Now it's time to think about what that actually means for you or your institution,” she said. “What are the concrete actions you're going to take? What are the ways you're going to assist Indigenous peoples in uplifting and upholding their sovereignty and self-determination?"

During a November 2022 lecture at Dominican University, Baldy used land acknowledgment to seek support from audience members for an Indigenous community garden in Chicago, the article states.

Read the entire piece here.

As the 2022-23 Follett Chair, Baldy will present the annual Follett Lecture on Monday, April 17 at 6 p.m. in Martin Recital Hall. It is entitled “Grandfather’s Boarding School Journals: An Indigenous Experience Firsthand Account.”