Land Acknowledgement

The Yerba Mansa Project gratefully acknowledges this land as part of the unceded Tiguex province which has been stewarded by the Isleta, Sandia, and Santa Ana Pueblos since time immemorial. We also acknowledge the indigenous sovereignty of the Pueblo, Navajo, and Apache people over the Rio Grande Valley throughout New Mexico. We recognize that the Albuquerque bosque and its surroundings continue to be protected and managed by the ancestral Tiwa- and Keres- speaking pueblos, and that the Albuquerque metro area is home to an indigenous population representing 400 plus nations and tribes.

Furthermore, we acknowledge that many of the plants explored through our program are part of this regions’ Indigenous cultural, spiritual, and ecological knowledge. We are committed to increasingly developing and implementing the most respectful and appropriate protocols that disrupt the perpetuation of cultural appropriation and theft of indigenous traditional ecological knowledge that often occurs within mainstream ethnobotany and herbalism. 

We are committed to building and maintaining meaningful relationships with the Indigenous Peoples of this place and holding ourselves accountable to their sovereignty over this land.  We invite ongoing feedback, critique, and dialogue on how to improve, refine, and strengthen the Yerba Mansa Project’s protocols to ensure we remain respectful advocates of ethical ethnobotanical and ecological learning and allies to the Indigenous Peoples of this region.

The Yerba Mansa Project is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization created by Albuquerque Herbalism in partnership with the City of Albuquerque Open Space. We are grateful to be part of this community of collaborators and financial supporters, who make our many free services possible. Click here to become a donor, partner, or business sponsor.