Minnesota comes from the Dakota (Sioux) word Mnisota meaning "sky-tinted waters" or "sky-blue waters."
We acknowledge the Indigenous Peoples upon whose land this work of courageous transformation is being accomplished. We recognize the Indigenous Peoples of this region who have called it home over thousands of years, including the Dakota, Anishinaabe (Ojibwe), Lakota, Nakota, Ho-Chunk, and Cheyenne.
We acknowledge the ongoing colonialism and the legacies of violence, displacement, migration, and settlement that foreground the formation of Minnesota. We acknowledge their cultural resilience, tribal sovereignty, and continued connections with the land of Minnesota. We commit to, and urge you to reflect upon with us, advancing critical efforts to understand and address these legacies to courageously transform them.