City of Los Angeles Adopts Official Citywide Land Acknowledgment During Native American Heritage Month | Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department

Posted on 11/07/2025

Group poses with LA City Council Resolution to recognize Native American Heritage Month

November marks Native American Heritage Month — a time to honor and recognize the enduring contributions and histories of Indigenous peoples across our region and nation. In that spirit, the Los Angeles City Council officially adopted a Citywide Land Acknowledgment for the City of Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department (LA Civil Rights) extends its deep gratitude to Councilmembers Monica Rodriguez (CD7) and Heather Hutt (CD10) for shepherding this important effort through the City Council to unanimous approval on October 28. Thank you also to the members of the Civil Rights, Equity, Immigration, Aging and Disability Committee Chaired by Hugo Soto Martinez (CD13) and Adrin Nazarian (Vice-Chair) for unanimously moving this report through for the unanimous City Council approval.

Additionally, LA Civil Rights extends a heartfelt thank you to Alexandra Ferguson Valdes, Executive Director of the LA City/County Native American Indian Commission, and to the Commissioners for their invaluable guidance and best-practice insights on meaningful tribal engagement.

Over the past three years, LA Civil Rights has worked closely with Indigenous communities to bring this vision to life — through meaningful consultation with local Tribal Groups, collaboration with the Office of Mayor Karen Bass, Los Angeles County, and alignment with State policy. The department is deeply honored to help lead public policy efforts that address historical harm while paving the way for truth and reconciliation.

“Adopting a Citywide Land Acknowledgement is an important step in recognizing the original stewards of this land and ensuring their histories are never forgotten,” said Capri Maddox, Esq., Executive Director of LA Civil Rights. “We are proud to stand alongside our Tribal partners in advancing equity, truth, and healing for generations to come.”

The Citywide Land Acknowledgment was officially read by Councilmember Monica Rodriguez (CD7) at the November 7 City Council Native American Heritage Presentation led by Councilmember Imelda Padilla (CD6) and reads as follows:

Image of LA Citywide Land Acknowledgement

The City of Los Angeles recognizes that we occupy land originally and still inhabited and cared for by the Kizh, Tongva, Tataviam, and Chumash Peoples. We honor and pay respect to their elders and descendants — past, present, and emerging — as they continue their stewardship of these lands and waters. We acknowledge that settler colonization resulted in land seizure, disease, subjugation, slavery, relocation, broken promises, genocide, multigenerational trauma, and the disruption of cultural practices, trade, and tribal relations. This acknowledgment demonstrates our responsibility and commitment to truth, healing, and reconciliation — and to elevating the stories, culture, and community of the original inhabitants of the City of Los Angeles. We are grateful for the opportunity to live and work on these ancestral lands.
We also honor the self-attestation of current mission-based Tribes confirming their connection to the ancestral lands on which we live and work today:
Gabrieleno San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians, led by the Gabrieleno Tongva Tribal Council
Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians – Kizh Nation
Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians
Northern Chumash Tribal Council

This historic acknowledgment reaffirms Los Angeles’ commitment to equity and inclusion while recognizing the living cultures and contributions of Indigenous peoples who continue to call this region home.