Before former President Barack Obama took center stage and before the A-list entertainment lineup began, former Obama adviser and Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett opened the festivities with a familiar progressive ritual.

“We’d also like to take a moment to recognize the original inhabitants of the land upon which we are gathered today,” Jarrett told attendees. “We honor the Anishinaabe, the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, the Odawa and the Potawatomi nations.”

The statement was intended as a gesture of respect toward Native American tribes historically connected to the region. Instead, critics seized on what they viewed as the glaring contradiction at the heart of the exercise.

After all, if the land truly belongs to someone else, why celebrate constructing a nearly $1 billion presidential complex on it?

That question exploded online within minutes.

The Obama center opening opens with a land acknowledgement:

“We honor the Anishinaabe, the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi Nations.” pic.twitter.com/aR9oM8Ee2t

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 18, 2026

“Wouldn’t they prefer you just give them their land back?” conservative commentator Steve Deace asked.

Beth Anne Mumford of Americans for Prosperity highlighted what many conservatives see as the fundamental problem with land acknowledgments in general. “Land acknowledgements are funny because the real message is ‘I want to say I care, but I don’t really care or I wouldn’t have built this on land which I just said is yours,’” she wrote.

Others were even less charitable. “So you just went ahead and built on that land anyway, huh,” quipped conservative commentator Stephen Miller.

Even some Democrats have previously questioned the practice. Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville famously criticized his own party’s obsession with such rituals, arguing that voters care far more about real-world concerns than ideological ceremonies.

Yet the Obama Center’s opening seemed tailor-made for exactly the sort of criticism that has dogged progressive politics for years: elite figures publicly expressing guilt over historical grievances while simultaneously enjoying the benefits of the very institutions they condemn.

And there was no shortage of elite figures on hand. The event featured a who’s who of Democratic power brokers, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Celebrity supporters packed the venue as well, with performances from Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and John Legend.

Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks and David Letterman were among the prominent guests helping transform the dedication ceremony into something resembling a political awards show.

Lost amid the celebrity glow was another reality, the center itself has been mired in controversy almost from the beginning. The project was first announced more than a decade ago and was originally expected to cost roughly half of its current price tag. Years of regulatory reviews, environmental challenges, lawsuits and construction delays pushed the opening repeatedly into the future while costs continued climbing.

Questions have also persisted about contractors involved in the project. Several subcontractors have alleged they are still owed substantial sums for completed work. One contractor has publicly claimed his company is owed roughly $4 million, raising fresh concerns about whether the center lived up to its stated commitment to support minority-owned businesses.

The result is a project that many supporters see as a lasting tribute to America’s first Black president and his political legacy. Critics, meanwhile, see something else entirely: a sprawling monument to modern progressive politics, complete with soaring symbolism, celebrity endorsements, ballooning costs and enough contradictions to fill an entire museum wing.