LETTER: The Clark County School Board’s ‘land acknowledgment’ gimmick

As reported in the Oct. 23 Review Journal by Lorraine Longhi, Clark County School Board President Irene Cepeda is now opening meetings with an acknowledgement that the land on which the meeting is held is the “territorial homeland” of the Moapa and Las Vegas bands of Paiutes. Ms. Cepeda leaves out a few steps.

Nevada is part of the United States, which took the land from the independent nation of Mexico. Prior to becoming part of the Mexican territory of Alta California, Nevada was a territory of Spain. Spain, as we know, took the territory from Native American tribes, including the Paiutes. However, the Paiutes took over the territory only about the year 1100, most likely migrating from Shoshone and Ute lands. Prior to the Paiutes taking over Southern Nevada as their “territorial homeland,” the area was the territory of other peoples, including the Lowland Patayan and Lowland Virgin Anasazi, who had taken over from earlier cultures.

Paleo-Indian stone tools and points found in Southern Nevada indicate humans arrived at least 13,000 years ago. Perhaps, Ms. Cepeda should be acknowledging that the school board meetings are held on land that is the territorial homelands of those brave Asians who ventured into the unknown and migrated into North America across the Bering Sea land bridge.