A Journey to Land Acknowledgement at Community Christian Church in Tempe

Written by Karen Nye, Immediate Past Moderator of Community Christian Church in Tempe

Early in 2023, Community Christian Church, Tempe, was awarded an Arizona Regional grant to purchase a plaque for a Land Acknowledgement Statement. A Land Acknowledgement Statement is an effort to recognize the Indigenous past, present and future of a particular location and to understand our own place within that relationship. Receiving the grant was the beginning of a many months-long process: researching which indigenous peoples likely inhabited the area where our church is located, studying other statements, determining what should be included (or not) in a statement, drafting statements and presenting them to the church board and congregation numerous times for input. The final version of the statement was officially approved early December 2023. 

The next step was to order the plaque. It was important to us that the plaque be displayed very visibly outside the church building where it could be read by anyone visiting our campus. With the competent guidance of Tempe Trophy, we learned that the usual brass-on-wood plaque that we had envisioned would quickly deteriorate outside. We needed a bronze or aluminum casting. The Region approved ordering the bronze plaque.

The plaque has now been “planted” near the main entry of the Sanctuary building and will be dedicated following worship, June 2, 2024, the date that marks the 100th anniversary of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. As our pastor, Rev. Trish Winters, shared with us, “Though full suffrage rights would not be granted to Native American/Indigenous peoples in the United States until the late ’40’s (Arizona and New Mexico were the last holdouts), this was the first step to ensuring full citizenship to those who had been born within the borders of what was and is, the United States of America.”

Our Land Acknowledgement Statement

“We, the faith community of Community Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), acknowledge that the land on which we gather is within the ancestral homeland of the Akimel O’odham (Upper Pima), the Hohokam and the Piipash native peoples. We honor with gratitude the diverse and vibrant Indigenous peoples past, present and future who, from time immemorial, have hunted, fished, gathered, planted and cared for these lands. We respect their sovereignty and their right to self-determination and we honor their sacred and spiritual connection with the land and water.”

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