Acknowledgment of Native Ancestral Lands

Acknowledging our past and telling a fuller American story are critical to our mission. Despite being a historic site for over 100 years, there is an even greater and longer history of Native Americans who lived on the land that today sits the President Wilson House.

We acknowledge the ancestral lands of the Nacotchtank (Anacostan) peoples. The people of Nacotchtank (from which the name Anacostia is derived), or Anacostans, were an Algonquian-speaking people. Nacotchtank was a large American Indian village located in the Washington area and is believed to have been a major trading center. Learn more about Native Peoples of Washington, DC here: National Park Service, Native Peoples of Washington, DC.

We encourage you to use this native lands map so you can learn what lands you occupy—visit: native-land.ca