by Victoria Camerano
I am writing this from the traditional Indigenous lands and waters of the S’atsoyacha (Yuchi), Tsalaquweiiyi (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), and Misccosukee Nation of Western North Carolina. These lands are a combination of unceded and ratified treaty lands (cession 8) where native peoples were forced from their home places during a military operation known as the Trail of Tears. The traditional language spoken here at this time is Tssalagi Gawonihisdi, which is of Cherokee lineage. (Native-Land.ca | Our Home on Native Land, n.d.)
This is an acknowledgement that the ability for any academic house to thrive in the ways that it does is a direct result of capital and academic research built upon labor of enslaved Indigenous
and Black people. This is an acknowledgement of these truths as I participate in an academic environment, and as we attempt to dismantle the systems that perpetuate this violence.
This is an acknowledgement that, as one explores a bioregion, one must acknowledge
gendered violence and sexism against women, including two-spirited, transgendered, and cis-gendered woman; as the foundation of much of the cultural knowledge that continues to thrive. Without the woman in our diverse culture that encompasses many peoples, we would not have the ancestral knowledge that serves as a foundation for the history that allows me to write bioregional environmental essays and reports.
Native-Land.ca | Our home on native land. (n.d.). Retrieved September 4, 2025, from https://native-land.ca/
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