At Columbus Audubon, our membership shares the joy of birds through learning, watching, and conserving habitat for birds on land in Central Ohio and beyond. We acknowledge and respect both past and current stewards of the land who conserve and restore habitat for the lives of birds.
Columbus Audubon programs are conducted on the ancestral and current land of Shawnee, Potawatomi, Delaware, Miami, Peoria, Seneca, Wyandotte, Ojibwe, and Cherokee peoples. These peoples were forcibly removed from their historic lands by colonial settlers during and after the Northwest Indian War which ended with the Treaty of Greenville in 1795.
We intend for this land acknowledgment to be a springboard for Columbus Audubon to continue learning about the land we bird and the historical and current Indigenous people that reside on the land. While we have chosen ‘Columbus’ as part of our organization’s name due to our city of origin, we recognize that using the name of a colonizer that enslaved native people is offensive and non-inclusive. We seek to consult with National Audubon and talk internally about choosing a name that better encompasses our organizational goals of inclusivity and belonging.
We encourage our membership to join us on this path. The next time you are out birding, take that as an opportunity to learn about and respect past and current caretakers of the land you’re birding on. There are some resources below to help you get started on this. Join us in our land conservation efforts by participating in a work day or applying for a conservation grant. Give back to the local Native American community by donating to Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio’s Land Back Campaign as they seek to purchase their own land in Central Ohio.
Resources:
Information about the Treaty of Greenville
Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio (NAICCO)
Ohio History Connection: Browse Historic Sites Related to Native American History