The Eno River Association respectfully acknowledges that the land we are on today is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Eno, Shakori, Sissipahaw, Occaneechi, other people of Siouan descent, and their descendants, the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation. Although they lived in separate villages and developed distinct identities, they spoke a common Tutelo-Saponi language. In this language, their descendants call them Yésah, which means “the people.” The Eno River Valley was their home for thousands of years before the arrival of people from other continents. Indigenous people are the original stewards of this land.
The mission of the Eno River Association includes the protection of the natural, cultural, and historical resources of the Eno River Valley. That protection is mostly necessary due to colonial practices and an economic system of land use and ownership that has often degraded our environment and dispossessed many peoples of color.
We make this acknowledgment as part of our education and commitment to inclusion of all in our community, and recognition and respect for the history of this land and this river, and all peoples and beings on the Eno through time.
