ABT Land Acknowledgement
American Ballet Theatre performs across the United States on the unceded homeland of Indigenous peoples. We acknowledge that as we rehearse and perform on stages across North America, we are always on stolen land. We will strive to build relationships with Indigenous communities everywhere we travel, and we are starting with a focus on ABT’s home and headquarters in New York.
Manhattan, originally known as Lenapehoking, and much of the surrounding area was forcibly taken from the Lenape people. This began when colonial settlers attacked and pushed the original inhabitants out of their homeland and has since been perpetuated through systemic violence and oppression for generations. This genocide has forced the Lenape to rebuild their nation in other parts of North America.
There are now three federally recognized Lenape tribes in the United States: the Delaware Nation, in Anadarko Oklahoma, the Delaware Tribe of Indians in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Nation in Bowler, Wisconsin. Canada also recognizes three Lenape First nations, made up of Lenape who fled the United states in the late 18th century. These are the Munsee-Delaware Nation, the Moravian of the Thames First Nation, and the Delaware of Six Nations.
American Ballet Theatre is partnering with the Lenape Center, an organization with the mission of continuing Lenapehoking, the Lenape homeland, through community, culture, and the arts. The Lenape people have a rich history of dance, and as America’s National Ballet Company®, we will help push back against this cultural erasure. Our full partnership with the Lenape Center will be announced soon.