Since 2021, First Parish has been engaged in a process of developing a land acknowledgement, a
statement that recognizes that the land on which our congregation is located was stolen from
the Indigneous people who first inhabited this area and our commitment to work for reparations,
right relationship and justice in regard to Indigenous people. This is part of an ongoing process
informed by the work of the Indigenous Justice Working Group, IJWG.
Beginning in the fall, the IJWG planned sessions with the congregation about this topic —
defining a land acknowledgment, why is it important, what would we want ours to say? We
invited the First Parish community to participate in these discussions, for greater
understanding and motivation to endorse the need for a land acknowledgment, as well as
further repair and reparations work with local and national Indigenous peoples.
At the annual meeting in May 2024, the congregation voted to affirm the lank acknowledgement below, which is now incorporated into our Sunday Worship Services:
The First Parish meetinghouse is located on the ancestral lands of the Massachusetts people, whose name was appropriated by this Commonwealth. The European colonists who took land from its inhabitants through coercion and violence also subjected Indigenous people to forced labor, relocation, and genocide. Our faith calls us to acknowledge the truth of our history, to name the ongoing harms of settler colonialism, and to work toward repair. We resolve to be in the right relationship with the Massachusetts and other Indigenous peoples, particularly the federally recognized Wampanoag nations of Mashpee and Aquinnah. We commit to finding meaningful ways to offer our support as we work in solidarity to build a more sustainable future for us all.
Please contact the Indigenous Justice Working Group with questions- email at
IJWG@firstparish.info