Library Guides: Native American Studies: Land Back

What is Land Back?

"Landback is a moment that has existed for generations with a long legacy of organizing and sacrifice to get Indigenous Lands back into Indigenous Hands."
- NDN Collective -

Land Back is:

Restoring Indigenous sovereignty
Repairing injustices
Restoring ancestral connections
Reclaiming kinship systems

Don't Forget to Pay Your Land Tax!

Tribes and Organizations - California

Sogorea Te' Land Trust - Led by urban Indigenous women
Sogorea Te’ Land Trust cultivates rematriation.
Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy
The Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy is a Tongva-led organization created to steward lands in Tovaangar, the traditional Tongva region, which encompasses the greater LA basin.
The Cultural Conservancy
The Cultural Conservancy, a Native-led organization founded in 1985. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their mission is to protect and restore Indigenous cultures, empowering them in the direct application of traditional knowledge and practices on their ancestral lands.
Shellmound: Ohlone Heritage Site and Sacred Grounds
A coalition of Ohlone tribes, indigenous organizations, and individuals who advocate for historic preservation, indigenous sovereignty and environmental justice.
Amah Mutsun Land Trust
The Amah Mutsun Land Trust (AMLT), an initiative of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band
Wiyot Tribe: Dishgamu Humboldt Community Land Trust
The Esselen Tribe of Monterey County - Sacred Lands
The Esselen Tribe of Monterey County is first and foremost a Tribal Group working toward continuing cultural traditions and preserving the cultural heritage of the historic tribes that are located within Monterey County.
Association of Ramaytush Ohlone - Ramaytush Land Trust
The Ramaytush Land Trust (RLT) is the official land trust of the Ramaytush peoples of the San Francisco Peninsula.
UC Land Grab:A Legacy of Profit from Indigenous Land
A Report of Key Learning and Recommendations

Tribes and Organizations - Turtle Island and Beyond

NDN Collective
NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.
Native Land Digital
Native Land Digital is a Canadian not-for-profit organization, incorporated in December 2018. Native Land Digital is Indigenous-led, with an Indigenous Executive Director and majority Indigenous Board of Directors who oversee and direct the organization.
Native American Rights Fund
Since 1970, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) has provided legal assistance to Native American tribes, organizations, and individuals nationwide who might otherwise have gone without adequate representation.
First Nations Development Institute
Their mission is to uplift and sustain the lifeways and economies of Native communities through advocacy, financial support, and knowledge sharing.
Indian Land Capital Company
The Indian Land Capital Company is a Native-owned, Certified Native Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) providing alternative loan options to Native Nations for tribal land acquisition and economic development projects.
Indian Land Tenure Foundation
The Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) is a national, community-based organization serving American Indian nations and people in the recovery and control of their rightful homelands.
U.S. Department of the Interior - Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations
The Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program or the Program) implemented the land consolidation component of the Cobell v Salazar Settlement Agreement which provided a $1.9 billion Trust Land Consolidation Fund (Fund) to purchase fractional interests in trust or restricted land from willing sellers at fair market value.
Indigenous Environmental Network
Established in 1990 within the United States, IEN was formed by grassroots Indigenous peoples and individuals to address environmental and economic justice issues (EJ).
Resource Generation - Land Reparations & Indigenous Solidarity Toolkit
This is a brief guide for Resource Generation members and other folks with access to land to support in education and resource sharing around land reparations.

Books

Unsettling Truths by Mark Charles; Soong-Chan Rah
Call Number: E93 .C428 2019
ISBN: 9780830845255
Publication Date: 2019-11-05
An American Genocide by Benjamin Madley
Call Number: E78.C15 M33 2016
ISBN: 9780300181364
Publication Date: 2016-05-24
Land Back by Heather Dorries (Editor); Michelle Daigle (Editor)
Call Number: GN449.3 .D86 2021
ISBN: 9780884025016
Publication Date: 2024-05-07
Native American Gardening by Michael J. Caduto; Joseph Bruchac
Call Number: SB321 .C24 1996
ISBN: 9781555911485
Publication Date: 1996-03-01
Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask by Mary Siisip Geniusz; Wendy Makoons Geniusz (Editor); Annmarie Geniusz (Illustrator)
Call Number: E99.C6 G47 2015
ISBN: 9781452944708
Publication Date: 2015-06-22
Available online
On the Swamp by Ryan Emanuel
ISBN: 9798890887160
Publication Date: 2024-04-02
Online only

Treaties

Clark Historical Library - Michigan-Related Treaties 1795 - 1864
In most of these treaties land was ceded by Native Americans to the federal government, which in turn surveyed the land and made it available for purchase or disposed of the land in some other way.
Smithsonian - National Museum of the American Indian - Nation to Nation: Treaties between the US and American Indian Nations
Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations

Land Back In Action!

A Step Towards Healing and Restoration: California to Support the Return of Ancestral Tribal Lands and Lands Management Projects
As part of an ongoing truth and healing process, California is supporting the return of over 38,000 acres of ancestral land to tribal stewardship and advancing nature-based solutions projects on tribal lands.
West Berkeley Shellmound - Campaign Resources
Includes: Media coverage, links to video clips, and references to relevant laws and policies.
Three Million Acres of Land Returned to Tribes Through Interior Department’s Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations
U.S. Department of the Interior
150,000 Acres Of Timberland Purchased For Maine Indian Tribes
National Museum of the American Indian Magazine
Article title: A River’s Rebirth: Klamath Dam Removals Offer New Life for Salmon as well as California and Oregon Tribes (Vol. 25 No.1)
Wiyot Tribe - Tuluwat Project
In 2004 the Wiyot Tribe accomplished the return of an ancestral island that had been lost as a result of a massacre in 1860. The Eureka City Council transferred the land back to the Tribe.
The Wyandotte Nation’s long road to Land Back
On Sept. 21, 2019, the United Methodist Church officially returned three acres of land, including the mission church, to the Wyandottes, making it one of the first religious organizations to return land to Indigenous people.
US Forest Service Tribal Relations:Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act
In 2020, Chippewa National Forest was instructed to transfer 11,760 acres of forest service land to the Department of Interior to be held in trust for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, thanks to the Leech Lake Reservation Restoration Act.
Chesapeake Bay Foundation - Nansemond Indian Nation Regains Ancestral Land from Suffolk
Press Statement from the Chesapeake Bay foundation
Manitoba Metis Federation: Land being returned to Manitoba Metis Federation
Around 100 acres of Manitoba Crown Land near the Saskatchewan border is being returned to the Métis community.
Shasta Land Trust - Burney Gardens Protected Forever & Returned
Now returned to the Pit River Tribe, Burney Gardens is in the ancestral territory of the Atsugewi band. Atsugewi ancestors once called this property home and since time immemorial lived and interfaced with the ecosystem and amongst the beauty that remains today. These treasured sites will once again be rightfully held by the Pit River Tribe as the original stewards of the land.
Office of the Governor - Gov. Newsom announces historic land return effort on the 5th anniversary of California's apology to Native Americans
Furthering the state’s promise to do better by California Native American tribes, Governor Newsom announced that the state is pursuing the return of over 2,800 acres of ancestral homeland to the Shasta Indian Nation – part of California’s historic reconciliation efforts.
US Forest Service - Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe celebrates homeland restoration
Leech Lake Ojibwe has nearly 12,000 Acres of Treaty Land Restored

Secondary menu

Native American Studies: Land Back

What is Land Back?

Don't Forget to Pay Your Land Tax!

Tribes and Organizations - California

Tribes and Organizations - Turtle Island and Beyond

Books

Treaties

Land Back In Action!