Bayden Sajko

Professor Ivey

English Composition

Oct 1, 2023

Chrysler Museum of Art Land Acknowledgement 

The Chrysler Museum of Art, established in 1933, unveiled a plaque recognizing the Indigenous peoples on the land that the museum now rests upon. This plaque was voted on in 2022 and later revealed in July of 2023. This honors the Indigenous people who lived on this land in the past and now before it was turned into the city we now call Norfolk. It is important to know how the land has changed, the struggles the Indigenous people went through, and what is happening in the present in the Indigenous community.

The thriving ecosystem once used as hunting grounds has now turned into cities. Standing in Norfolk it’s hard not to imagine what life would have been like for the people who were here long before us. The only sounds are that of nature and the only lights would be that of the stars. It was a thriving undeveloped land. There were many tribes of Indigenous people that lived on this land before it changed into what we now know. These people inhabited this area for thousands of years before it was colonized. The lack of written documents at that time leaves much to be thought about how different it was before the arrival of white men to this area. We know very little about certain groups due to little documentation. Besides archaeological evidence of their existence, we know very little about particular groups. The first documentation of a Native American settlement was in 1584 in what we now know as the Outer Banks. In explorations years later they found more Indigenous groups in the Chesapeake area. One of these settlements was gone even before the founding of Jamestown. The land they once resided on has changed drastically in the past few thousand years. The establishment of the settlers starting to develop the land changed it permanently. 

With the arrival of colonials, they brought diseases and claimed the land as their own. The Indigenous people had to face many problems with their arrival. A struggle to keep the land that was rightfully theirs and fight battles against illness and weapons they had never heard of. The difference in culture at the time was immense and the understanding of religion for the British was to spread knowledge of the bible. Christianity, to them, was a duty not just a personal belief. Those aren’t the only hardships they faced. For example, being driven off their land and forced into reserves, the social abuse from varying beliefs, and genocide are just some of what they had to withstand. The past is hard to come to terms with and these struggles still affect many Native Americans today. 

The Chrysler Museum of Art put up a plaque in July of 2023 honoring the Indigenous people where the museum now resides and the Native Americans of the Mother of Waters also known as the Chesapeake Bay. This plaque also acts as a land acknowledgment that recognizes the things the Indigenous community faced due to colonization. It also pays respect to the original inhabitants of this land who were here before us. There is nothing we can do to make up for the past as stated in an article for the plaque. They stated, “It creates awareness of the ongoing presence and contributions of Indigenous Peoples within our community, and expresses gratitude to those whose territory on which we reside”. (“Indigenous Land Acknowledgement”1)

There were many problems that the Native Americans were faced with. That’s why it is important to know how the land has changed, the struggles the Indigenous people went through, and what is happening in the present in the Indigenous community. We can’t change the past but we can appreciate what the Native Americans have given us in culture and do more things like what the Chrysler Museum did to make sure that their history is not forgotten.

Norfolk Highlights 1584 – 1881, before the White Men Came, www.historicforrest.com/norfolkHistoricalSociety/highlights/01.html. Accessed 25 Sept. 2023. 

Native American Life Today – Pages.Nativehope.Com, pages.nativehope.com/native-americans-today. Accessed 15 Dec. 2023.