Land and People Acknowledgement

Centuries before there was a Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a City of Cambridge, or an Old Cambridge Baptist Church, the Pawtucket Band of the Massachusett Tribe inhabited the land we now occupy. Their relatives, the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag, continue their legacy of stewarding the ancestral homeland of the Massachusett. Their spiritual traditions teach that the land is sacred, and cannot be owned. People belong to the land, and are made by the Creator to be kin with each other and all other beings, living together in harmony.

Our biblical tradition teaches the same, but it was corrupted by desires for riches and conquest, with the Doctrine of Discovery justifying centuries of land theft, enslavement, genocide, theft of children, and cultural erasure, all in the name of Christianity. We repent of the historical and contemporary consequences of this heresy, which are still unfolding, and from which our ancestors, and we ourselves, have benefited. We commit ourselves to return, again and again, to our shared spiritual roots: honoring our Creator by cherishing the earth as sacred, and our kin throughout Creation as beloved relatives. Led by our indigenous neighbors, we further commit to acts of justice and compassion as a congregation, as we seek to repair relationships broken by centuries of injustice.

The OCBC Land and People Acknowledgement was adopted in 2024, and is a working document. We are striving to continue to follow up our words with meaningful actions, with guidance from our Indigenous neighbors.

We thank Thomas Green of the Massachusett Tribe, as well as First Church Cambridge, and Rolling Ridge Retreat Center for consultation and language used here.