Rainforest Action Network’s San Francisco headquarters are located on the traditional, ancestral and current territories of the Ohlone, Ramaytush, and Muwekma peoples. The Indigenous Peoples of this land are an active and vibrant part of our community and have been the stewards of the so-called San Francisco Bay Area since time immemorial. As an organization staffed by people who are mostly settlers to this area, we are grateful to live, work and play in this beautiful place and are committed to honoring and respecting this land and its Indigenous Peoples.
We acknowledge this not only in gratitude to the Indigenous communities who have held relationship with this land for generations but also in recognition of the historical, ongoing and deeply problematic legacy of colonialism. Like countless Indigenous Peoples past and present, the Ohlone, Ramaytush, and Muwekma peoples have survived genocide, ethnic cleansing, forced removal from and stealing of their lands, broken treaty agreements and much more. Just as the Ohlone continue to demand the recognition of their tribal nationhood and their rights to land, so too do Indigenous communities around the world. RAN staff are also situated across the globe, and we acknowledge that those workspaces are also located on the traditional, ancestral and potentially unceded lands of Indigenous peoples.
We recognize and respect Indigenous rights and tribal sovereignty, and uphold treaty rights where they exist as the supreme law of the land. We assert the right of Indigenous Peoples to participate effectively at every level of decision-making that impacts their rights and their lands, following the principles of Free, Prior and Informed consent.
As part of our commitment to honoring both the land of the Bay Area and its Indigenous Peoples, RAN contributes to the Shuumi Land Tax in support of the critical work of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust. To learn more, please visit: https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/shuumi-land-tax/
To find out more about whose land you’re on in the United States, check out: native-land.ca
To learn more about land acknowledgements, check out: https://nativegov.org/a-guide-to-indigenous-land-acknowledgment/