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Robbinsdale board adopts resolution to read land acknowledgment and display 11 Minnesota tribal flags
Summary
The school board unanimously approved a resolution to read a land acknowledgment at board meetings and to publicly display the flags of Minnesota's 11 federally recognized tribal nations in the Education Service Center boardroom, contingent on implementation at the Aug. 18 meeting.
The Robbinsdale Area School Board on Aug. 4 unanimously approved a resolution endorsing a regular land acknowledgment and the public display of tribal flags representing Minnesota's 11 federally recognized tribal nations in the Education Service Center boardroom.
The resolution states that the district "acknowledges that our schools reside on the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Dakota and Ojibwe people" and recognizes "the painful history of genocide and forced assimilation of the indigenous inhabitants of this land." The district's American Indian Parent Advisory Committee (APAC) had formally expressed support for the public reading of a land acknowledgment and visibility for tribal flags, the resolution says.
The board's action: The measure was moved and seconded and carried on a roll-call vote of 7–0. The resolution authorizes the board chair or a board director to read the land acknowledgment at school board meetings and recommends the reading at other appropriate district events. The resolution calls for visible display of flags representing the 11 federally recognized tribal nations in Minnesota, with implementation targeted to begin at the Aug. 18, 2025, board meeting contingent on approval on Aug. 4, 2025.
Why it matters: Board members said the acknowledgment and flags are intended as acts of recognition and respect that affirm tribal sovereignty and support inclusion. Chair Evans Becker read the adopted land acknowledgment aloud following the vote.
Implementation note: The resolution ties the proposed display to the Education Service Center boardroom and sets a goal of installing the flags by the board's Aug. 18, 2025, meeting pending logistics and administrative follow-up.
