The District 65 resolution uses some of the same wording as the Norton measure, but the key group advocating for land acknowledgements around the country is something called the U.S Department of Arts and Culture. That may sound like a government agency, but it’s not.
Instead, the group describes itself as “a people-powered department,” a grassroots organization of activists with the long-term goal of “nothing short of a paradigm shift from a consumer to a creator culture, from ‘me’ to ‘we,’ to a society rooted in equity, empathy and interconnectedness.”
The organization has a “Cabinet” with Secretaries titled, among other things, the “Minister of Public Sentiment” and the “Minister of Moral Imagination.”
The organization’s website offers an “Honor Native Land Virtual Resource Pack,” which includes virtual backgrounds for online meetings. Some District 65 board members had logos behind them during Monday’s meeting that match ones offered by the group, though no one on the Board indicated where the logos came from or if the District had received any information from the group.
