Working Together for One Another

Working Together for One Another. ᵴsỿ. , ᵴsỿ translates from Cherokee to English as: "working together for one another", The West Virginia Mine Wars Museum is located within the ancestral homelands of the Cherokee (symbol), Shawnee (SHAWANDASSE TULA), Yuchi (TSOYAHA), and Tutelo (YESAN)., We acknowledge that this land has held communities of resistance since time immemorial., In Matewan, the strength to dissent and defy in the face of oppression is older than even the coal mines., We acknowledge the past, present, and future belonging of Indigenous people on this land., We acknowledge the absences created by relocation from this land and the violence therein., We acknowledge the exploitation of land and people and its beginnings in colonialism., We also acknowledge and celebrate the spirit of collectivity that is Indigenous to this land., We know that the Cherokee principle of ᵴsỿ ("Gadugi", pronounced GAH-DOO GEE), that speaks to "working together for one another," is something this land has always held, and continues to hold., We welcome and invite continued relationships with the tribal communities original to the land that our museum sits on., We hold those communities in gratitude and in solidarity.