Know your places.
Locate yourself in our shared story.
Whether your story began on the family farm, Main Street, or a childhood home, look behind street addresses and rural routes to learn how the United States acquired the land that you live on.
First, dig below the surface of your land’s story to place yourself within its historical narrative. Learn your land’s biography and how the past lives in and shapes the present.
Then, look past the landscape of today to become an active steward of tomorrow’s land history. Build meaning around your personal land history and tailor your ongoing relationship to place.
What sparks your imagination?
Reach out to talk about which of these might serve your curiosity.
Hennepin Co., MN | 1837 Treaty with Sioux (Dakota)
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Primary-source documents applying the Doctrine of Discovery at your location
Maps and contemporaneous interpretations contextualizing the application of the Doctrine of Discovery at your location
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A copy of the treaty ceding the land to the United States or, if there was no cession, the authority for the acquisition
Primary-source correspondence about the treaty preparations and its reception
Federal reports, maps, and other historical documents discussing the acquisition
Historical maps contextualizing the land’s transition to property
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A copy of the document that moved the land from U.S. ownership to the first private owner
Information about the first owner
Federal policy contextualizing the transfer
Historical maps and other documents contextualizing the land’s transition to property
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A 45-60 minute video call to contextualize the primary-source information within federal policy, answer your questions about the land history, and explore your relationship to this history
A narrative summary of the application of the Doctrine of Discovery to the location
A narrative summary of the cession, how the United States acquired the location, the historic tribe or tribes that ceded the land and their modern successor(s), how the United States first transferred the land to private ownership, and identification of the person who first privately owned the land
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Join a one-to-one or small-group conversation about your land history
Host an in-person or virtual land history presentation
Maintain documentary, visual, and video materials on a location-specific web page to refer back to and share with others
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A reparative Interest assessment that pairs personalized asynchronous exercises with with a follow-up conversation to explore your relationship to the land history and to begin building a reparative-action plan tailored to you and the location
A reparative strategies plan that builds on the assessment to recommend concrete reparative steps
A curated resource list for continued study
“Learning to see beyond white linear understanding of history to layers of history cracked open my mind. Exploring this layered understanding of history at one familiar location landed powerfully.”