Beyond Land Acknowledgements: Settler Stories, Rematriation, and Reimaging How We Think About Home with Dr. Natasha Varner

Join historian Natasha Varner for a talk and workshop designed to explore the questions: How did we come to be settlers in the places we call home? How can we honor our ancestors while also acknowledging their complicity in systems of harm? And how can we move towards accountability and right relationships with the Indigenous peoples upon whose land we now live? Varner will deliver a brief talk about her own family’s settler history, then guide participants through dialogue and writing/reflection exercises. Participants can expect to come away with a roadmap for continued reflection and action, and connections with a community of people invested in doing the same work.

Natasha Varner, PhD is a historian and writer whose essays and reporting have appeared in Electric Literature, The Nation, Atlas Obscura, PRI’s The World, Jacobin, and The Abusable Past. Her first book, “La Raza Cosmética: Beauty, Identity, and Settler Colonialism in Postrevolutionary Mexico,” was a finalist for the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association’s Best First Book Award in 2021. Recent recognition of her work includes a Roundhouse Foundation artist residency, a GAP Funding Grant from Artist Trust, and an Us@250 journalism fellowship with New America. She currently serves as Heritage Program Manager at 4Culture. Learn more about Dr. Varner and her work at www.natashavarner.com.