Outdoors Empowered Network

Outdoors Empowered Network acknowledges that it is located on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ramaytush Ohlone peoples who are the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Peninsula. We recognize that, as the original stewards of this land, the Ramaytush Ohlone understood the interconnectedness of all things and maintained harmony with nature for millennia, and honors the Ramaytush Ohlone peoples for their enduring commitment to Mother Earth.

Land Acknowledgment explicitly counteracts a culture of erasure of Indigenous Peoples, their history, and their current culture and communities. In the Red Paper “How to become an Ally to Indigenous People” The Seventh Generation Fund says “Learn History.” This is the first thing indigenous Peoples ask non-Natives to do. Start with whose ancestral land you live on now. Where are the people today and what are their stories? What treaties were signed, and how were they violated”.

As part of our commitment to repair, OEN does not charge membership dues or other fees to Indigenous-led members. We are emphatically clear that this is to make reparations and not a gesture of charity or colonizer saviourism.

OEN Members

We acknowledge the traditional peoples of the lands on which OEN members work and recreate:

Bay Area Wilderness Training is on the unceded land of the Chochenyo Ohlone, the Ramaytush Ohlone, and the Coast Mi-Wok peoples who are the original inhabitants of the Bay Area region.

Fresno Building Healthy Communities is on the traditional land of the Yokut people who are the original inhabitants of the Central Valley region surrounding Fresno.

Washington Trails Association is on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People past and present. We honor with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe.

The Mountaineers are on the traditional and ancestral land of the Coast Salish, Stillaguamish, Duwamish, and Suquamish peoples.

Indigenous Cultural Concepts is a Dine organization that works in the current and ancestral lands of the dine or Navajo people. They continue to work to revitalize traditional land practices in their community.

Families in Nature is on the traditional and ancestral land of the Juamos Tonkawa, Comanche, and Sana, in what is known today as Austin Texas.

Get Outdoors Leadville is on the traditional and ancestral lands of the Ute tribe.

The Forest Preserves of Cook County sits on the ancestral homelands of the Council of Three Fires—the Ojibwa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi tribes—and was a place of trade with many other tribes, including the Ho-Chunk, Miami, Menominee, Sauk, and Meskwaki. 

Detroit Outdoors is on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabeg.

Thrive Outside Grand Rapids is calling in from the traditional lands of the Anishanaabeg, with particular acknowledgment for the Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi Tribes. 

Appalachian Mountain Club is based on the ancestral and traditional lands of the Wampanoag, Nipmuc, and Massachusett people.

Midcoast Conservancy is on the traditional territory of the Wabanaki Confederacy, including the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and Micmac peoples.