Land Back News Roundup
Federal policy changes, actual land transfers, and more
I often hear the phrase “Land Back” referred to as merely a demand, or as something that might happen, in the future. But a little digging for stories on land return or other accompanying practices—like restoring original indigenous place names—and it’s easy to see that Land Back is something that’s happening, right now. It’s an exciting moment, with much more work to to be done, but genuine momentum is clearly on the rise. I thought it might be useful to gather just a few of the stories I’ve come across in recent months, both on the Land Back movement and on some of the actual land reclamation underway. Here’s just a little of what’s been going on. And if you have more stories on land return and reclamation that others should know about, send them my way and I’ll include them in the next roundup.
Changes in Federal Policy
First off, there’s some important changes happening at the federal level that should make it easier for tribes to access and use land. Just last week, the Department of the Interior took steps to ease bureaucratic hurdles for tribes to put land into trust. See Indian Country Today for more detailed coverage.
Of course, for many the ultimate goal is to move beyond the trust model. Educator Corinne Rice (Lakota and Mohawk) spoke with Mother Jones last week to answer questions on the Land Back movement and addressed the current framework guiding how tribes hold land:
The US government holds land for tribal nations in a trust—which is demeaning, honestly, because its mindset is that the government looks at tribal nations as not capable of managing our own land. And so they will hold it for us the way they would hold something for a ward of the state. That’s not honoring someone’s sovereignty. But it’s the way it is right now until things can be fixed or changed in the future.
Rice’s interview is also a good resource for those with the question of, “but what would land back look like?”
Renaming and Bigger Understandings of Land Back
Looking to answer that same question, Seattle-based Crosscut ran a series in late April called On Native Ground. It includes interviews with different Native activists expanding on what is involved in the concept of land reclamation, and another story about the connection between land reclamation and food sovereignty; a piece by Snoqualmie Tribal Member Melynda Digre on the challenge and promise of Deb Haaland’s role at the Interior; and a look at Wenatchi Land Back efforts, which involve reclaiming the original name of a local rock formation.
Also in Washington, efforts are underway once again to restore the name of the state’s tallest mountain. (Personal aside: I’ll be happy when this happens, and I can quit explaining to people that when I say I’ve hiked the entire circumference of “Tahoma,” I’m talking about the place they call “Mt. Rainier.” The current namesake of the mountain never stepped foot on it and also helped the British colonize India. Whether it’s “Tahoma” or “Tacoma,” it’s better than “Rainier.”)
Land Return and Land Reclamations
Yes! Magazine covered the Yurok Tribe’s use of California’s carbon offset program to purchase land on their ancestral territory.
In February, the Lower Sioux Indian Community reclaimed over 100 acres of their land from the State of Minnesota.
In December, the Nez Perce reclaimed land along the Wallowa River, 148 acres of an area named Am’sáaxpa, or “the place of the boulders.” A few hours west, on the coast, Clatsop-Nehalem tribal members are making plans for 18 acres they reclaimed from the North Coast Land Conservancy. In both instances, the tribes had legal treaty rights to continue to hunt and fish on the land but had been denied those by white settlers who came in and claimed ownership of the property.
And the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes have finally recovered their lands from the National Bison Range, along with the right to manage the bison herds—nearly 50 years after courts judged the land had been illegally taken.
Growing the Land Back Movement
Grist briefly interviewed four leaders of the Land Back movement, all working on very different projects.
Briarpatch Magazine devoted an entire issue last fall to talking about Land Back. Based in Canada, their timeline documenting 100 years of land struggle has a greater focus on the northern part of the continent, a helpful addition to those of us who may remain U.S.-centric in our perspective.
Land Back is happening. If you’re wondering how to take part in returning land or otherwise working towards repatriation and reclamation to make sure that it happens even more, Resource Generation has a “Land Reparations and Indigenous Solidarity Toolkit” you can check out. And make sure to follow NDN Collective’s LANDBACK campaign.