Land Reparations & Indigenous Solidarity Toolkit

There is no blueprint for how to work towards land rematriation and land returns to Indigenous people. Every region, location, and tribe has its own story of colonization and its own current landscape of Indigenous-led organizing. This brief guide is a compilation of educational resources, case studies of rematriation, as well as some initial questions to consider when planning a land return.

Wealth, Land, and Decolonization

Wealth is based on finite resources. Wealth, even what’s in the stock market, is ultimately tied concretely to land. “Land” here means all the world’s resources and ecosystems that keep us alive and well—water, vegetation, food, minerals, buildings, and more. The lifeblood that flows from land is finite, tangible, and vital. It is currently, especially in the U.S., almost exclusively privately controlled by individuals or corporations whose ownership the law is designed to protect. Land is controlled this way because of European colonization. The historic and ongoing theft and control of land, real estate, and resources has led to the extreme concentration of wealth among a small group of people that exists today.

Resource Generation’s mission names the “equitable distribution of land.” This is a tactic and outcome that young people with wealth are well-positioned to influence. 

Decolonization and “the equitable distribution of land” is simultaneously about Native sovereignty, self-determination, and about the Earth being sustained and cared for. Colonization disrupted the communal responsibility to land inherent in Indigenous nationhood, and turned land into a private commodity for wealth extraction and accumulation. Therefore, to avoid reproducing those dynamics, we must apply a decolonial lens of returning land to Indigenous nations, not just individuals. 

RG is a community of people who, in various ways, are financially benefiting from colonization. For direct descents of US settlers, there may be a pretty obvious money trail, but for most people, it requires a little more uncovering. For people of color and people with mixed racial heritage within RG, the tale of how colonization has affected wealth is sometimes multilayered and contradictory. Decolonization benefits non-Native people of color (Black, Latinx, Asian, and Arab) who have also been impacted by U.S. colonialism and imperialism. In the end, decolonization efforts, including land returns, are better for the planet and all its inhabitants. This guide is designed to support RGers in those efforts.

To learn more: 

• Indigenous Environmental Network’s Indigenous Principles of Just Transition
• Decolonization is Not A Metaphor by Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Young
• Dancing the World into Being: A Conversation with Idle No More’s Leanne Simpson
• Oakland Institute’s Land Rights Resources
• Decolonizing Together by Harsha Walia
• Radical Farmers Use Fresh Food to Fight Racial Injustice and the New Jim Crow by Leah Penniman
• Recognizing Indigenous Pacific Struggles in the Lei at Selma
• Blackness is the Fulcrum by Scot Nakagawa
• The Other Side of Anti-Black Racism by Scot Nakagawa
• On Solidarity, “Centering Anti-Blackness,” and Asian Americans by Scot Nakagawa
• The Language of Anti-Racism by Scot Nakagawa
• A Rising Tide or a Flood? by Scot Nakagawa
• For our Nations to Live, Capitalism Must Die by Glen Coulthard
• RG’s Resources for Land Justice

Some questions and best practices to consider:

1. What is the history of any land you indirectly/directly have access to? What Indigenous people historically or currently inhabit that land, and what is the history of how it was stolen? (Get started by checking out this map of Native land)
2. Who are the Native people/communities connected to where you live and/or the land you have access to? What is the political landscape of both recognized and unrecognized tribes where you live? Are there any local efforts that are led by Indigenous people?
3. Start the slow process of building relationships with Native people where you live. Be patient. This work is relational and because of colonization Indigenous people and struggles are often less known. Are there local events or cultural centers you can show up to? Are there individuals you are connected to that you can build relationships with?
4. What are the visions and struggles of Indigenous people/tribes in the area you live or have access to land in? Show up and support. This might mean fundraising for land or other resources.
5. What does informed consent look like in the offer for donation or transfer of land? Land transfers can be complex and are not always what’s best for a tribe, be in genuine dialogue to find the best path forward.
6. Learn about the specifics of what is possible regarding land transfers. Donors can transfer land to land trusts in different ways—donation vs. title transfer vs. charitable sale. Learn about different options and discuss them with partners. (See Resources for Land Justice for different options on how to transfer land.)

A few case studies/examples:

Land returns

• Mashpee Wampanoag (Cape Cod) Native Land Conservancy was founded in 2012 in Mashpee, Massachusetts, and is the first Native-run land conservation group east of the Mississippi, and the story about the first parcel of land donated to the Native Land Conservancy by an individual
• Ponca (Nebraska) Nebraska farmer signed a deed returning ancestral tribal land back to the Ponca Tribe 
• Wabanaki (Maine) First Light Learning Journey A collaboration of 25 non-Native conservationists controlling 2 million acres in Maine, and Wabanaki tribal members to build towards collective awareness of Native land left and move towards land resourcing sharing with Wabanaki people.
• Land taxes, cash and other returns
• Individual transfers $250K to Ute Tribe in Utah for stolen land Professor paid reparations for great-grandfathers’ profiteering 
• Sogorea Tè Land Trust (Bay Area) Land Tax Traditional Ohlone land, for non Indigenous people to pay into the Shuumi Land tax to acknowledge the history of colonization, land theft and the Ohlone community. 
• Sogorea Tè Land Trust (Bay Area) Land Return Planting Justice and the Sogorea Tè Land Trust negotiate a women-led urban land return to the Ohlone community 
• Duwamish (Seattle) Real Rent: Land tax in Seattle area to reflect solidarity with the Duwamish Tribe
• FEDCO seeds (Maine) indigenous royalty Profit sharing for the non-profit Nibezun on behalf of the Wabanki tribes and cultural traditions 

TAKE ACTION

• Donate to any ongoing land tax/land returns struggles.
• Host a fundraiser and direct money towards supporting Indigenous organizing.
• If you have access to land and are interested in land rematriation to Indigenous people, begin building relationships with people and see if there is interest in local land returns.
• This is not available for everyone with access to land, so another option is to sell acres of land and give the proceeds to support ongoing Indigenous-led organizing or land return struggles.