Do you know whose land you're living on? 

It's a question that may seem like a trick. If you own your home, it's yours, right? if you rent, it's your landlord's?

Not exactly. Long before Pilgrims hopped aboard the Mayflower or Columbus sailed the ocean blue, we know there were people who lived here in America, people whose land we live on today. 

In Australia, learning about the original owners of the land is now baked into the curriculum of the public schools. Students learn early on if they live on Wiradjuri land or Gureng Gureng land or the land once owned by the people on a long list of First Nations tribes. It's customary for kids (and adults) in the country to write what's called an "Acknowledgement of Country" to show their awareness and respect for the original custodians of the land. 

I wonder how many Americans could do the same. 

Take a trip over to the County Clerk's office to dig through the history of your property, and you're bound to find a list of people who paid taxes for the parcel of land over the years. You won't find its original owners. 

Some here in the county may know the names of the tribes that once lived and worked in our fields and forests thanks to the long, long years of debates over casinos and Native American involvement. But then again, maybe not. 

Ours was once the land of Lenape people, who were displaced by white colonizers. By the 1860s, most Lenape people were picked up and moved all the way to Oklahoma by our government, which is why you'll find the Delaware Tribe calls home a place far from the shores of the Delaware River these days.

There's more to be learned, more than I could possibly share in this short column. Curious about the original owners of your land? The free app Native Lands will use your cellphone location to pinpoint the exact peoples who once lived on the land where you stand and offer links to find out more. 

You can also text a city or zip code to (855) 917-5263, and a bot will bounce back a text with the tribe or tribes whose homeland it is.

Maybe then the question "whose land are you living on" will become a little less complicated to answer.