Land Acknowledgment

Honoring Indigenous Peoples

We acknowledge that Ruby Slipper Designs is located on the ancestral homelands of the Shasta, Takelma, and Latgawa peoples who lived here since time immemorial.

We recognize that Native communities were forcibly removed from the land where we now reside. These Tribes were displaced during rapid Euro-American colonization, the Gold Rush, and armed conflicts between 1851 and 1856.

In the 1850s, the discovery of gold and settlement brought thousands of Euro-Americans to these lands, leading to warfare, epidemics, starvation, and villages being burned.

In 1853 the first of several treaties were signed, confederating these Tribes and others together – referred to as the Rogue River Tribe. These treaties ceded most of their homelands to the United States, and in return, they were guaranteed a permanent homeland reserved for them.

At the end of the Rogue River Wars in 1856, these Tribes and many others from western Oregon were removed to the Siletz and the Grand Ronde Reservations. Today, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians are living descendants of the Takelma, Shasta, and Latgawa peoples of this area.

We present this acknowledgment as a way to show our respect to indigenous peoples.

And to recognize and honor the truth.

We offer gratitude for the land in this state called Oregon, for those who have cared for it throughout generations.

We are grateful for the opportunity to grow, learn, work, and create community on this land.

We respectfully acknowledge and honor all Indigenous communities throughout time and into the future.

We are grateful for their presence, their knowledge, their ways of life, and their respect for the land and ecosystems.

We honor and acknowledge Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes:

The Klamath tribe of the Southern Oregon plateau.
The Burns Paiute of the high-desert east.
The Coquille of Southern Oregon’s coastal forests.
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in the northern Coast Range.
The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua in the Southern Oregon foothills.
The Confederated Tribes of Umatilla in the Blue Mountains.
The Confederated Tribes of Siletz in Oregon’s northern rain forests.
The Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw on the southern coast.
The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs on the sunny eastern slopes of the Oregon Cascades.

And we would like to recognize all the other indigenous communities that have not been federally recognized.

We hope this land acknowledgment inspires a call to action.

If you are interested but unsure where to begin, here are some ideas:

Learn about the tribes in your community — if you’re in Oregon, visiting the websites listed on this page is a great place to start.
Visit the Oregon Indian Education Association website — they promote quality educational services for American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian (AI/AN/NH) people in the state of Oregon.
Learn about Southern Oregon University’s Konaway Nika Tillicum overnight camp for motivated Native American Students in grades 7 – 12.
Consider donating to an organization that supports indigenous people in America, such as:
Located on 10 acres in Portland, the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) serves infants to Elders. Their robust services include camps, high school and college services, economic development, a community garden, critical services, cultural education, and more.
Created and led by Native peoples, IllumiNative is a nonprofit designed to increase the visibility of — and challenge the negative narrative about — Native Nations and peoples in American society.
Donate to The American Indian College Fund. Only 14.5% of American Indians hold college degrees. But with 42% of Native Americans being 24 years old or younger, you have the opportunity to make an incredible impact for this generation and generations to come when you donate today.