In commemoration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, David Lowry spoke on the importance of returning Indigenous lands to their original owners.
On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archeology hosted a talk by David Shane Lowry, a member of the Lumbee Tribe and an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Southern Maine. His discussion centered on settler colonialism, the Land Back movement, and the importance of returning Indigenous lands to their original owners.
In an interview with The Phillipian, Lowry urged students to grapple with Indigenous history in the current era, not just the past. He expressed his hopes for Andover students not to shy away from uncomfortable situations.
“You have to make Native and Indigenous peoples part of today. They can’t merely be part of events/politics/wars in the past. Every experience that you all at PA have with your local and national community ought to be attached to work to reverse the realities that allow you to live comfortably outside of relationships with Native and Indigenous peoples,” wrote Lowry in an email to The Phillipian.
Andover does not currently have special programming for Indigenous People’s Day. Sam Clare ’25 expressed frustration with this limited recognition, noting how Andover’s land acknowledgment is only the first step in increasing student awareness.
“I was interested in Dr. Lowry’s talk about land, especially because I know that PA has a land acknowledgment. What does it mean to have a land acknowledgment when we don’t necessarily do anything else? Saying ‘we know we’re on stolen land’ but not doing anything about it… We actually need to go a lot farther, beyond simple conversations and land acknowledgments, to like he mentioned, our endowments. We have so much money. What are we doing with that?” said Clare.
Clare pointed out how, unlike Andover’s Martin Luther King Jr. “Day-On,” students weren’t prompted to learn about Indigenous Peoples’ Day. They mentioned that such a “Day-On” could serve as a framework for future development.
“Many students were able to go through the day without thinking about Indigenous Peoples’ Day because their teachers, coaches, and friends didn’t bring it up. Andover needs to be intentional about saying, ‘No, you have to think about this because it’s important.’ This is the land we’re on right now, and we wouldn’t have this school without Indigenous land. A day is not even enough, but we need to start with that — making students aware that this is important,” said Clare.
During the talk, Lowry emphasized the impact of American History on current Native American groups. Bryan Bu ’26, who attended the discussion as part of his English class on the suppression of Indigenous sovereignty, underscored how Lowry used real-life examples to make the themes of the lecture more understandable and relatable.
“I really appreciated how the speaker used real-life examples to explain the points made in the lecture. It made the ideas we read about in the novel feel more relevant…When you hear about a real person losing their home, it hits harder than reading about a fictional character. You start to realize that these aren’t just stories, and they happen to people today,” said Bu.
As the event gave both students and faculty the opportunity to ask questions to the speaker, Willy Park ’26 shared that the discussion allowed him to approach themes from his history course differently. Park highlighted the importance of events focusing on Native Americans, calling for further efforts from Andover to educate the community about Indigenous issues.
“A positive impact these talks can have is that people who attended these meetings, although it may not be a huge part of campus, can be really inspired to inform other people about what happened here and what their takeaway was. Our speaker, David Lowry, gave an idea to maybe come up with a seminar so that more people can be educated about this. If we were to actually adopt those suggestions, it could have a much bigger impact,” said Park.
Lowry discussed how events like Indigenous Peoples’ Day are meant to bring attention to the lack of involvement of Native Americans in institutions that occupy their land.
“Indigenous Peoples’ Day should make students at Andover ask why Indigenous peoples aren’t with you everyday. It is that simple. Andover’s leader should be Native American. You, as students, should have access to well-paid Native American faculty. You should be taught everything at Andover within the conditions of Native American knowledge,” wrote Lowry in an email to The Phillipian.
