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This exhibition weaves together two narratives—one relating to Oberlin, an abolitionist town on the Underground Railroad, and the other to Indigenous land sovereignty and ancestral connections. Rather than looking to political figures, legislation, and borders, the artworks in the exhibition make an argument about the porosity of American-ness that is rooted in a connection to land and water.

The exhibition is transhistorical, drawing connections between historical and contemporary works over the past three centuries, almost entirely from the Allen’s permanent collection. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a newly-commissioned installation by Tongva artist Mercedes Dorame, which centers the role of waterways in connecting people to their ancestors and their identity.

The title comes from the following excerpt of Muscogee (Creek) author Joy Harjo’s 2015 poem, “Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings”:

Recognize whose lands these are on which we stand.
Ask the deer, turtle, and the crane.
Make sure the spirits of these lands are respected and treated with goodwill.
The land is a being who remembers everything.

Images:

Evans Flammond Sr. (American, Rosebud Sioux, b. 1969), The Journey, 2018. Colored pencil on 1890 Atlantic Coast Line Railroad ledger paper. Gift of Betty Beer Franklin (OC 1965), 2025.12.1.

Mercedes Dorame (American, Tongva, b. 1980), Smoke to Water - Chyaar Paar 'Apuuchen, 2013. Archival pigment print. C. Roush Contemporary Art Fund, 2018.40.

Unrecorded American Artist, Portrait of Two Girls, ca. 1825–30. Oil on canvas. R. T. Miller Jr. Fund, Museum Friends Fund, Oberlin Friends of Art Fund, Art Object Sales Fund, Richard Lee Ripin Art Purchase Fund, Hedy Landman ’53 Memorial Art Fund, and Goodman American Art Fund, 2024.10.

Yétúndé Olagbaju (American, b. 1990), For Edmonia, 2020. Color screen print. Art Rental Collection Transfer, 2023.37.

Jeffrey Gibson (American, Mississippi Band Choctaw/Cherokee, b. 1972), TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS, 2023. Acrylic paint on canvas inset in custom frame, acrylic velvet, acrylic felt, glass beads, turquoise, metal beads, vintage pinback button, vintage beaded elements, artificial sinew, nylon thread, cotton canvas, nylon and cotton rope. R. T. Miller Jr. Fund, 2023.58.