(The Center Square)\u00a0\u2014 During a Phoenix school board meeting, member Jeremiah Cota was quickly shut down for saying the Lord\u2019s Prayer, rather than an Indigenous land acknowledgement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In an exclusive interview with The Center Square, Cota, who represents Ward One on the Phoenix Union High School District Governing Board, recounted his experience being silenced at a board meeting on Aug. 8.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The board member highlighted the fact that these land acknowledgements are treated like a religious prayer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI do fully believe these land acknowledgements are like a religious ritual. And I am well aware that it is very reverent when they say these acknowledgments,\u201d said Cota. \u201cIt is hushed tones, it is bowing of the heads. It is a very solemn moment. And it is a prayer, if you ask me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Land acknowledgements are statements by organizations that recognize it is on land that historically was inhabited by Indigenous peoples.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cota, a member of the Free People of the San Carlos Apache tribe, grew up on an American Indian reservation. He explained land acknowledgments are not appropriate at board meetings and said it is simply virtue signaling.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey basically ascribe victimhood status if you’re a Native American,\u201d Cota said. \u201cI can say as a tribal member, no one has ever asked me if a land acknowledgment about my tribe is OK. It\u2019s virtue signaling and to make them feel good about themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a newly appointed board member, Cota, at his third meeting, was asked to read the land acknowledgement. Instead, he started reading the Lord\u2019s Prayer, but was swiftly interrupted by legal counsel.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
During the Phoenix Union High School District Governing Board Meeting – August 7, 2025 board member Jeremiah Cota was stopped from reading the Lord’s Prayer<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t have a religious prayer before we start to read the land acknowledgment,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>the\u00a0board parliamentarian during the meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cota continued to read the Lord\u2019s Prayer.<\/p>\n Board President Ceyshe Napa interrupted Cota, and he was ruled out of order.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI just don’t know why the Lord\u2019s Prayer was so offensive to many people in the room, and that’s very concerning to me,\u201d Cota said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0Simultaneously, he was told that the board does not follow Robert’s Rules of Order and that it is \u201cmerely a suggestion.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n