History of the Region
Land Acknowledgement
Skidmore College, the Theater Department, and our surrounding environs are situated upon the homelands of the Haudenosaunee, Muheconneok, Kanienkehaka, and Abenaki peoples. We give thanks to the Haudenosaunee, Muheconneok, Kanienkehaka, and Abenaki peoples for their continued stewardship and love of these beautiful lands and waters. We acknowledge that we are guests on these traditional waters and lands, which the Abenaki call Ndakinna, or “our land.”
History of the Saratoga Springs Region
The original Indigenous inhabitants of Saratoga Springs were the Algonkian peoples known as the Mohican, who spoke an Algonquian language. Also in the region were the Munsee, Western Abenaki, and the Haudenosaunee peoples. Indigenous peoples have lived in the area for over ten thousand years, and before European settlers arrived, maintained peace.
The Algonkian and the Haudenosaunee people considered the area surrounding Saratoga Springs to be sacred because of the natural mineral springs with healing waters, and that those waters should be shared by all.