Land Acknowledgement
On Site Opera’s primary activities take place on and around the island of Mannahatta (presently and commonly known as Manhattan), the Homeland of the indigenous Lenape people, and on the ancestral land of the Wappinger people and many other Indigenous groups. As a producer of site-specific performance, our art takes us into many spaces within this geographic footprint and often beyond. On Site Opera recognizes that this is unceded land. We work to honor past, present, and future generations of people who have been displaced from the area and we acknowledge the contributions that have been made by enslaved and displaced people to shaping, building, and maintaining what is now known as New York City. We show gratitude to the many thousands of Indigenous people who are living in and contributing to New York City and we pay our respects to elders past, present and future.
Site-specific performance invites our artists and audiences to consider the relationship between the story of each performance and the place in which we present it. While our productions most frequently embrace each venue’s current usage and aesthetic, we also encourage all participants to explore the relationship of each performance site to its past history as a home to Indigenous people. As part of our ongoing practice, we will provide resources for our participants to enhance their connection to each performance location with information about the Indigenous people who once inhabited that particular area as well as the area’s ecological history.
To learn more about the Lenape click here.
To learn how you can honor native land, visit the US Department of Arts and Culture, by clicking here
To learn about the land you currently occupy, please visit Native Land’s interactive map, by clicking here.
Find out more about the places we have performed:
