Page 2 - Reflect DSM (City of Des Moines, IA)

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Statement

The City of Des Moines acknowledges that it is built on ground where indigenous peoples
have settled for thousands of years and knows that it continues to be a home for Native
people. Historically, central Iowa was the homeland for the Ioway or Baxoje nation. The
City traces its own founding to Fort Des Moines, built in 1843 to serve as an agency for the
Sauk and Meskwaki (or Sac and Fox) nations. Under the Treaty of 1842, they were required
to move to this area from east-central Iowa, until 1845 when they were relocated to Kansas
and Nebraska. This removal enabled the founding of the state of Iowa and Polk County,
with the town of Fort Des Moines as its seat. Today, around 3,000 Native people live in
Polk County. Understanding the historical and current experiences of Native people and
their nations is important to the City’s historic preservation program and advances our
commitment to promoting equity.

Figure 1. A map of Native land cessions and treaties in Iowa. Number 262 represents the Treaty of 1842, the red line divides the eastern
portion (vacated in 1842) from the western portion (vacated in 1845). (Source: A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation, The Library of
Congress)

Cover Photo. Shattering Silence Sculpture, designed by James Ellwanger to represent the tradition in Iowa's courts of ensuring the rights
and liberties of all people of the State. The story of Ralph, a Missouri slave hoping to buy his freedom in Iowa, and eventually granted that
freedom by Iowa's Territorial Supreme Court, is engraved at the base of the sculpture. (Source: Stacey Hanley)

ii DES MOINES Citywide Historic Preservation Plan