The land on which we gather, inhabit, work, and live is the original homelands and traditional territory of the Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo), Peoria, Bodéwadmiakiwen (Potawatomi), Miami, and Oceti Šakówiη (Sioux) people. These lands were the home of these Native Nations prior to their forced removal and relocation. These lands continue to be embedded with the rich histories and struggles for survival of each nation.
UChicago does not exist independently from centuries of forced labor and economic extraction from enslaved African Americans. In 1857, Stephen A. Douglas donated 10 acres of land (valued today at approximately $1.2 million) for the initial construction of the University of Chicago. Though most of history remembers Douglas for his political career, the humans that he owned and amassed his fortune from have a starkly different recollection. (Written by Symphony Fletcher (Pritzker School of Medicine M.D. Candidate 2024) for “UC Juneteenth 2021: Reparations Panel“)