The Ayer Devens project is taking place on the traditional territory of the Nipmuc Nation, including the Nashaway band of Nipmucs, who inhabited these lands and were forcibly removed from them around the time of the 1643 Lancaster purchase of land in the region by European colonizers. Land is essential to human understanding of our personal and collective identities, to our health and well-being, and to our very survival as a species on this planet. With this land acknowledgment, we recognize the violence inherent in the separation of a people from their territory, and the conflict and suffering that this continues to create today. The project team is working to include, collaborate with, uplift and celebrate the voices and priorities of Indigenous Peoples and institutions in this project, and in the ongoing fight for climate justice.