--- title: "Building the Story: Celebrating our Land" description: Does your church have a land acknowledgment? Have you even heard of one? image: https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/hubfs/Building%20the%20story%20(2).png --- [![SHC\_blog\_logo\_small](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/hs-fs/hubfs/SHC_blog_logo_small.png?width=300&height=88&name=SHC_blog_logo_small.png "SHC_blog_logo_small")](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org) - [Home](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org) - [Early Childhood](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/tag/early-childhood-ministry) - [Children](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/tag/children-ministry) - [Youth](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/tag/youth-ministry) - [Adults](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/tag/adults-ministry) - [Store](https://www.wearesparkhouse.org) ## [Building the Story: Celebrating our Land](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/building-the-story-celebrating-our-land) Oct 1, 2026, 9:30:04 AM / by [Dan Jacob](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/author/dan-jacob) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) Does your church have a land acknowledgment? Have you even heard of one?   ![Building the story (2)](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Building%20the%20story%20(2).png?width=2240&height=1260&name=Building%20the%20story%20(2).png)   Our LEGO/art studio has a land acknowledgment that goes like this: "The Banner Blue studio and office are located on the original and ancestral homelands of the Myaamia Nation, Shawnee Nation, Kaskaskia Nation, Hopewell Culture, and Adena Culture. We understand the importance and necessity of acknowledging the land and its original, Indigenous peoples, and doing so consistently. Also, we understand that this statement is just a first step and that we must learn more, do more and realize healing and justice for Indigenous peoples whose lands we now occupy."   We are really proud that land we are on is still cherished by Native American tribes like the Shawnee who gave us the amazing leader Tecumseh. This land was even home to the Hopewell people who had one of the most sophisticated civilizations in the world more than 2,000 years ago. The Hopewell people were capable of astronomical calculations that rival what we can do today. They also achieved a fully sustainable level of architecture that modern architects are now striving to replicate. In other words, they were really really smart.   That's why we choose to acknowledge the Hopewell and the tribes or first nations who lived on the land we currently use. This [ELCA guide](https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fresources.elca.org%2Fministries-of-diverse-cultures-and-communities%2Fland-acknowledgement-guide%2F%3F_ga%3D2.85761308.409800284.1788278590-219264143.1788278537%26_gac%3D1.26719311.1788278590.Cj0KCQjw79nUBhCgARIsADSHka0Rqduw1Em4InPIecUA2-2VZ4Ry5sDV9gMypwKJysVrxat_OhD5LxgaAsbJEALw_wcB&data=05%7C02%7Cberdahlk%40augsburgfortress.org%7C3d8165c75ab1476d2c6308df09074855%7Cc38896fb36a144c0bd568f74f7816d23%7C1%7C0%7C639239599135342135%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=X7x8IC7xzwo%2B2%2BHfGGoUtY2qoTQ9WEEquWAUont7ZfQ%3D&reserved=0) can help you make your own land acknowledgement.   In our studio, we've made a number of official Heroes of History minifigs that depict Native American leaders. We have Tecumseh, Lozen, Juana Azurduy, Susan Le Flesche Picotte, Bíawacheeitchish, and Tlapalizquixochtzin. That's a chief, a prophet, a freedom fighter, a doctor, another chief, and a queen, respectively.   I wonder what amazing heroes might have called your home their home. Do you know of any Native American leaders from near you?   Maybe you have someone like Lozen--someone who bravely and expertly avoided enemy patrols in order to guide a family to safety--who lived near you. Does she remind you of anyone? Lozen reminds me of David (1 Samuel 23:14). Her Apache people regarded her as someone who could communicate with the divine. ![DJ lego land 1](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/hs-fs/hubfs/DJ%20lego%20land%201.jpg?width=479&height=562&name=DJ%20lego%20land%201.jpg)   Maybe you have someone like Dr. Picotte--someone who travelled great distances to heal the sick when no one else would--who lived near you. Does she remind you of anyone? Susan reminds me of Elijah (1 Kings 17:8–24). She studied and worked hard and earned her medical degree at a time when a woman from the Omaha Tribe like her was given no chance of becoming a doctor.   ![DJ lego land 2](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/hs-fs/hubfs/DJ%20lego%20land%202.png?width=249&height=458&name=DJ%20lego%20land%202.png)   Maybe you have someone like General Azurduy--someone who inspired many others to fight for their freedom--who lived near you. Does she remind you of anyone? Juana reminds me of Deborah (Judges 5:7). She fought side by side with people who had almost nothing and important leaders like Simon Bolivar until together they all liberated Argentina and Bolivia.   ![DJ lego land 3](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/hs-fs/hubfs/DJ%20lego%20land%203.jpg?width=374&height=562&name=DJ%20lego%20land%203.jpg)   Maybe you have someone like Queen Tlapalizquixochtzin--someone who guided the Aztec people to prosperity--who lived near you. Does she remind you of anyone? Tlapalizquixochtzin reminds me of Josiah ( 2 Kings 23:25). The empress never lost her focus on helping all of her people to flourish.   ![DJ lego land 4](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/hs-fs/hubfs/DJ%20lego%20land%204.png?width=365&height=473&name=DJ%20lego%20land%204.png)   Maybe you have someone like Chief Bíawacheeitchish--someone who accepted her role as leader from a very early age--who lived near you. Does she remind you of anyone? Woman Chief reminds me of Gideon (Judges 8:23). When others were afraid to fight, Bíawacheeitchish grabbed a spear and fought herself to protect her Crow people.   ![DJ lego land 5](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/hs-fs/hubfs/DJ%20lego%20land%205.jpg?width=372&height=562&name=DJ%20lego%20land%205.jpg)   Maybe you have someone like Chief Tecumseh--someone who built a whole city dedicated to bringing people from all over together--who lived near you. Does he remind you of anyone? Tecumseh reminds me of Jesus' apostles (Acts 2:2-4). Over 20 languages were spoken at Tecumseh's Prophetstown but the people still managed to share goods and culture from far and wide.   ![DJ lego land 6](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/hs-fs/hubfs/DJ%20lego%20land%206.png?width=223&height=343&name=DJ%20lego%20land%206.png)   Heroes like this are all around us. In my community, Tecumseh is a cherished hero. We have schools, roads, and buildings named after him. That was not always the case. In Tecumseh's time, he was treated like a criminal and much of what he built was destroyed. That's true for many of the heroes I've shared about, including the figures from the bible. I try to honor the struggles of these people by making LEGO™ minifigures of them. There are minifigures for Superman, Spiderman, Wonderwoman, and many other heroes, so why shouldn't we have minifigures for these real life heroes?   Tecumseh has inspired me to try to build the Grand Council House from Prophetstown out of LEGO™. It think it will be a lot like the scene of Pentecost that we are also working on building. I wonder what you have been inspired to build.   Topics: [heroic](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/topic/heroic), [history](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/topic/history), [thanks](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/topic/thanks), [Native American](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/topic/native-american), [respect](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/topic/respect) ![Dan Jacob](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Dan%20Jacob%20LEGO%20copy.png?width=100&height=100&name=Dan%20Jacob%20LEGO%20copy.png) #### Written by [Dan Jacob](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/author/dan-jacob) Dan is an independent LEGO Master Builder who has created a bunch of bible story building kits through the nonprofit he leads called Banner Blue. As an artist and writer, Dan loves helping people connect to God through creativity and storytelling. When he's not playing with a bunch of kids, Dan is at his small duck, sheep and rabbit farm living it up as a real life shepherd. [![SHC\_SocialMedia\_banner](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Sparkhouse/Social/SHC_SocialMedia_banner.jpg?width=300&height=200&name=SHC_SocialMedia_banner.jpg "SHC_SocialMedia_banner")](https://www.facebook.com/wearesprkhouse/) ### Subscribe to Email Updates ### Find us on social media ### Recent Posts [![Sparkhouse Blog](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/hs-fs/hubfs/SHC_blog_logo_small.png?width=300&height=88&name=SHC_blog_logo_small.png "Sparkhouse Blog")](https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org/) ©2024 Sparkhouse. All Rights Reserved.