OLLI at Berkshire Community College
Land Acknowledgement

With gratitude and humility, we acknowledge that we are learning, speaking and gathering on the ancestral homelands of the Mohican people, who are the Indigenous peoples of this land. Despite tremendous hardship in being forced from here, today their community resides in Wisconsin and is known as the Stockbridge-Munsee Community. We pay honor and respect to their ancestors past and present as we commit to building a more inclusive and equitable space for all.

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Berkshire Community College (BCC) encourages lifelong learning and seeks to understand, appreciate, and acknowledge the history, legacy, and ongoing contributions of the Indigenous peoples of Berkshire County. Through sustainable partnerships with the Stockbridge-Munsee Community and allies, diversifying curriculum, including experiential learning opportunities and events that create platforms for Indigenous voices, OLLI at BCC will honor and highlight the regional contributions of the local Stockbridge-Munsee Community, Band of Mohican Indians. Additionally, OLLI at BCC aims to remove institutional barriers to accessing education by reviewing its institutional policies and procedures in order to identify and remove practices that exacerbate oppression, bias, and inequity.

We invite you to engage in these efforts and learn about the important sacrifices of the Mohican Indians, who have been systematically erased from history. In keeping with OLLI at BCC’s mission, we are proud to join other local organizations and regional efforts in raising awareness of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, respecting and honoring the contributions and knowledge they have contributed to our lives.

 September 2023