Princeton seeks to build relationships with Native American and Indigenous communities through academic pursuits, partnerships, historical recognitions, community service and outreach efforts.

On-campus partners in this work include:

• Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative at Princeton (NAISIP)
• Princeton Indigenous Advocacy Coalition (convened by the Undergraduate Student Government)
• Princeton American Indian and Indigenous Studies Working Group (PAIISWG) 
• Natives at Princeton

Campus Activities

Land Acknowledgements

The University provides guidance for colleagues and students seeking to craft a land acknowledgement text for their unit or group.

In partnership with Lenape leaders, a memorial garden was dedicated in honor of the University's enduring relationship with the original Lenape inhabitants of the region, and a historical marker acknowledging the origins and diaspora of Lenni-Lenape peoples was erected on the grounds of Prospect House.

Student Outreach and Access

Annually since 2017, the University has hosted the Santa Fe Indian School Leadership Institute’s summer policy academy.

Princeton hosted College Horizons, a national nonprofit focused on college access for native- and indigenous-identified high school students, in 2017.

Indigenous and Native American Studies

The Effron Center for the Study of America serves as the home for Native American/Indigenous studies at Princeton, through the Princeton American Indian and Indigenous Studies Working Group (PAIISWG). Recent course offerings include “Native History," Native American Literature," "Indigenous Wordlings," “Indigenous People and Christianity," and “Land and Story in Native America," among others.

The Humanities Council launched Land, Language, and Art (LLA), a global initiative that aims to extend the Native American and Indigenous Studies at Princeton (NAISIP) into new global dimensions pertaining to land, language, and art.

Recent academic conferences and events include:

• Imperial Borders and Sovereign Rights, sponsored by the Department of Anthropology
• The State of Indigenous Americans, sponsored by the Office of Population Research
• Third Annual Munsee Language and History Symposium, sponsored by the Institute for Advanced Study, Humanities Council, Princeton University Library and Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative at Princeton
• The “Indigneous/Settler” Conference sponsored by the Princeton Humanities Council
• The International Symposium on Indigenous Communities and Climate Change, held at the Princeton Public Library and Princeton University
• The Public Lands, Private Hands exhibition at the Princeton University Art Museum and co-sponsored by the Princeton Environmental Institute

Native and Indigenous Student Life

Every November, Natives at Princeton honors Native American Heritage Month. With support from President Eisgruber, students raise a tipi as an opening event to kick off the month of activities including dinners, movies, musicians and speakers surrounding the issues of Native Americans and indigenous peoples.

In 2017, Princeton hosted an Ivy Native Council conference which brings together Native and Indigenous students from all Universities in the Ivy League to exchange ideas and share in fellowship.  The theme of the conference was “Treaties: Understanding the Past to Move to the Future.”