I want to first thank the committee members of Native American and Indigenous Studies of UT Austin for providing a pronunciation guide to help acknowledge Indigenous peoples and the land on which we live and work.
I live and work on land that is not mine — land that belongs to the Indigenous peoples of this place:
Alabama-Coushatta
Caddo
Carrizo/Comecrudo
Coahuiltecan
Comanche
Kickapoo
Lipan Apache
Tonkawa
Ysleta del sur Pueblo
I name this as an Indigenous person myself — not from here, but from the islands now called the Philippines. My people were also taken, renamed, and reshaped by colonization. I come from lineages that were interrupted, scattered, and nearly erased.
Through adoption and displacement, I live far from my ancestral land and carry my ancestors in my body, even when I cannot walk where they are buried.
I do not claim this land. I arrive as a guest — with humility, grief, and respect — bringing my own ancestors into relationship with the peoples and spirits of this place.
In this space, I commit to tending what lives between us: to remembering where I come from, honoring where I stand, and moving with care in the layers that meet here.
