Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge that we reside on the unceded ancestral home of the Coast Salish peoples who have reserved treaty rights to this land, including the Duwamish, Snohomish, Suquamish, Muckleshoot, Snoqualmie, Puyallup, and other Indigenous peoples. We thank these caretakers of this land who have lived and continue to live here since time immemorial. 

As settlers on this land, we at Facing Homelessness are aware of and strive to continue educating ourselves on the multilayered injustices that these communities still experience. The Duwamish and other Indigenous tribes were the first people to be made houseless in this region. These communities have endured not just genocide and forced displacement by white settlers, but also a centuries-long attack on their language, ceremony, food, medicine, education, governance, and so much more. The Duwamish have been denied federal recognition by the U.S. government, meaning that they have been denied the right to establish a sovereign tribal government or possess lands in a protected trust.

Their continued political and economic marginalization is especially apparent in issues of housing. Today, Native people experience homelessness, cost burden, overcrowding, inadequate housing, and home loan denial at higher rates than any other race or ethnicity here in King County. High rents and land prices push many of them to the fringes of this area, away from community spaces and services. In the midst of this oppression, these Indigenous communities have survived and are still here, fighting for their recognition and their sovereignty. Their incredible resilience is evident in the support systems they have built to combat housing insecurity and homelessness within their own communities.

We are committing to becoming allies to Indigenous-led organizations and working with them to find ways to address past and present injustices. We humbly invite you to walk alongside us in this process in whatever way that makes sense to you, whether that is learning the history, advocating for tribal political rights, paying Real Rent to the Duwamish, or something else. We recognize that undoing such deeply-rooted patterns of oppression must be a collective effort, one that involves building and nourishing a “constellation of relationships.” (“Beyond Territorial Acknowledgements” / âpihtawikosisân /2016)

If you are inspired to do more and learn more, please see below a few of the resources we utilized in the development of this statement and sign up to pay “Real Rent” through the Duwamish Tribe.