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About CNAIR

The Center for Native American and Indigenous Research (CNAIR) was established in 2017 and is situated in Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. CNAIR acknowledges the Indigenous peoples of the lands on which Northwestern University sits, as well as the University’s historical relationship with the Cheyenne and Arapaho.

 

MISSION

The Center for Native American and Indigenous Research is Northwestern University’s primary institutional space dedicated to advancing scholarship, teaching, learning, and artistic or cultural practices related to Native American and Indigenous communities, priorities, histories, and lifeways.

VISION AND GOALS

The Center operates as a hub for multi-disciplinary, collaborative work informed by and responsive to Native American and Indigenous nations, communities, and organizations. We foster an innovative and Indigenous-centered intellectual space that is open to multiple modes of engagement for faculty, students, staff, and community members. The Center commits to developing and promoting reciprocal and sovereignty-affirming relationships and partnerships with Native American and Indigenous communities.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Northwestern is a community of learners situated within a network of historical and contemporary relationships with Native American tribes, communities, parents, students, and alumni. It is also in close proximity to an urban Native American community in Chicago and near several tribes in the Midwest. The Northwestern campus sits on the traditional homelands of the people of the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa as well as the Menominee, Miami and Ho-Chunk nations. It was also a site of trade, travel, gathering and healing for more than a dozen other Native tribes and is still home to over 100,000 tribal members in the state of Illinois.

HISTORICAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Northwestern University intersects with the violent history of colonialism and its impacts on Indigenous peoples. Specifically, Northwestern has a unique history with the Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples through John Evans and his role as the governor of the Colorado Territories. 

Our Commitment

It is within Northwestern's responsibility as an academic institution to disseminate knowledge about Native peoples and the institution's history with them. It is within Northwestern's responsibility as an academic institution to disseminate knowledge about Native peoples and the institution's history with them. Consistent with the University's commitment to diversity and inclusion, Northwestern works towards building relationships with Native American communities through academic pursuits, partnerships, historical recognitions, community service and enrollment efforts. 

If you are interested in learning more about land acknowledgements or institutional initiatives around Native American and Indigenous peoples please visit the Native American and Indigenous Initiatives website or contact Jasmine Gurneau. Below are several land acknowledgement resources from the Native American and Indigenous Initiatives website: