History of the Land Back Movement.

History of the Land Back Movement

The material is a large, categorized collection of sources on the Land Back movement, covering Indigenous land return, treaty rights, tribal sovereignty, rematriation, sacred-site protection, conservation, climate justice, legal history, direct action, and modern policy victories.

The main theme is that Land Back is not only a slogan or symbolic demand. It is a broad movement calling for the return of land, jurisdiction, stewardship, culture, ceremony, food systems, language, and political authority to Indigenous peoples. The sources show that Land Back grows out of centuries of land theft, broken treaties, allotment, forced removal, federal termination policy, conservation dispossession, boarding schools, resource extraction, and ongoing struggles over sovereignty.

Land Return Cases and Victories

A major section documents concrete land return cases across the United States and Canada. These include land returned to the Yurok Tribe, Wiyot Tribe, Washoe Tribe, Onondaga Nation, Rappahannock Tribe, Penobscot Nation, Fond du Lac Band, Spirit Lake Nation, Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, Mille Lacs Band, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, and other Native nations.

These examples show that Land Back can happen through many pathways: state legislation, federal law, conservation partnerships, tribal purchases, land trusts, municipal transfers, court settlements, agency transfers, and philanthropic support. The material also shows that land return can range from small sacred urban sites to tens of thousands of acres of forest, watershed, coastal land, or reservation land.

LANDBACK Organizing and Direct Action

The collection gives major attention to the modern LANDBACK campaign, especially the role of NDN Collective in popularizing LANDBACK as a political framework. Sources on the Black Hills, Mount Rushmore protests, LANDBACK U, LANDBACK films, and the LandBack Action Network Manifesto show how the movement developed a shared language around land, kinship, ceremony, medicine, language, and collective liberation.

The material also connects Land Back to direct action and land defense, including 1492 Land Back Lane, Standing Rock, Black Hills organizing, and other Indigenous-led resistance to development, pipelines, extraction, and state violence. These sources show that Land Back is both a policy demand and a grassroots movement.

Rematriation, Land Trusts, and Local Tools

Another major theme is rematriation, a term often used to emphasize restoring land to Indigenous care, relationship, kinship, and responsibility rather than treating land only as property. Sources on Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, Rematriate the Land, Native Land Conservancy, First Light, and the Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship show how Indigenous-led organizations are building practical tools for land return.

The material highlights voluntary land tax and rent models such as the Shuumi Land Tax, Real Rent Duwamish, and Honor Native Land Tax. These projects show how individuals, churches, nonprofits, landowners, cities, and institutions can support Land Back even when full land title transfer is not immediately possible.

Conservation, Climate, and Indigenous Stewardship

The collection strongly connects Land Back to conservation and climate justice. Sources on the Yurok Tribe, Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, National Bison Range, Indigenous fire stewardship, 30x30 conservation goals, food sovereignty, and biodiversity research show that Indigenous land management is often presented as a more just and effective alternative to colonial conservation.

The material argues that returning land to Indigenous peoples can support salmon restoration, forest health, cultural burning, wildlife protection, watershed recovery, food sovereignty, and long-term climate resilience. It also critiques “fortress conservation,” where parks and protected areas were created by removing Indigenous peoples from their homelands.

Legal History, Treaties, and Sovereignty

The legal and historical background section shows that Land Back is rooted in treaty law, federal Indian law, and long struggles for self-determination. Key sources cover the Dawes Act, Treaty of Fort Laramie, United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians, Indian Claims Commission Act, Indian Reorganization Act, Public Law 280, the Termination Era, the Menominee Restoration Act, the Boldt Decision, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

These sources show that Land Back is not simply a modern protest demand. It is connected to specific legal histories of land theft, broken treaties, allotment, federal mismanagement, jurisdictional loss, and monetary settlements that often failed to restore actual territory. The Black Hills are especially important because the land remains central to Lakota treaty claims and the broader argument that some lands were never legally surrendered.

Sacred Sites, Cities, and Public Land

The material shows that Land Back is not limited to remote rural land. Sources on the West Berkeley Shellmound, Oakland’s return of land rights to Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, Tongva public art in Los Angeles, university land-use conflicts, and urban land trusts show that cities are also built on Indigenous homelands.

The collection also explores public lands such as national parks, national monuments, wildlife refuges, forests, and preserves. Examples involving Bears Ears, Redwood National and State Parks, Valles Caldera National Preserve, and the National Bison Range show how Land Back can involve co-management, sacred-site protection, tribal stewardship, or full transfer of land and authority.

Extraction and Global Indigenous Land Struggles

The material broadens the topic beyond the United States by connecting Land Back to global Indigenous struggles over mining, cattle ranching, deforestation, energy transition minerals, and territorial recovery. Sources on Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Alaska, and global mining conflicts show that Indigenous land defense is international.

These sources also complicate climate policy by showing that “green” energy transitions can repeat colonial patterns if lithium, copper, and other minerals are extracted from Indigenous lands without free, prior, and informed consent. Land Back is therefore presented as part of a larger struggle over who controls land, resources, and ecological futures.

Books, Scholarship, and Theory

The collection includes important books and scholarly works that explain the deeper theory behind Land Back. These include Our History Is the Future, As Long as Grass Grows, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, Red Skin, White Masks, As We Have Always Done, Decolonization Is Not a Metaphor, and academic articles on LANDBACK, federal land transfers, land banks, and Indigenous resurgence.

These works frame Land Back as part of a long anti-colonial struggle against settler colonialism, not merely a reform campaign. They emphasize that land return must include self-determination, jurisdiction, culture, ecological responsibility, and the restoration of Indigenous political authority.

Contradictions and Complexities

The material does not present Land Back as simple or uniform. Some sources distinguish full land return from co-management, conservation easements, symbolic access, restricted transfers, and monetary compensation. Others explore tensions involving Native corporations, mineral rights, land trusts, government agencies, universities, churches, and conservation nonprofits.

These sources show that Land Back raises practical questions about ownership, jurisdiction, stewardship, development, funding, legal tools, and who has decision-making power. The collection repeatedly emphasizes that genuine Land Back requires more than acknowledgment or consultation; it requires material change.

Conclusion

Overall, the material presents the Land Back movement as a major Indigenous rights movement rooted in centuries of treaty violations, land theft, and resistance. It connects historic struggles such as Alcatraz, Wounded Knee, the Trail of Broken Treaties, the Boldt Decision, and Standing Rock to modern campaigns for land return, rematriation, conservation, sacred-site protection, and climate justice.

The central message is that Land Back is about restoring relationships between Indigenous peoples and their homelands. It includes returning land, but also restoring sovereignty, jurisdiction, stewardship, ceremony, food systems, ecological knowledge, and cultural survival. The movement challenges symbolic land acknowledgments and asks governments, institutions, landowners, conservation groups, and the public to support real transfers of land and power.

Land Return Cases, Victories, and Policy Wins

Land Back

| Wikipedia Contributors | Wikipedia | Ongoing

The Wikipedia article provides a broad overview of the Land Back movement, its goals, philosophy, and notable land restorations. It is useful as a starting index for identifying additional sources and examples.

Landback Returns of Indigenous Lands Happening Across Country

| Staff | Phys.org | June 20, 2026

This article reports on research documenting Land Back returns from 1972 through 2023 and notes that such returns increased sharply after 2010. It is useful for showing the historical growth of land return as a measurable national trend rather than isolated events.

Land Back: Fond du Lac Band Celebrates Return of 3,400 Acres

| Native News Online Staff | Native News Online | May 29, 2026

Minnesota returned the Cloquet Forestry Center lands to the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The article highlights how state-owned lands inside reservation boundaries have become important targets for modern Land Back work.

Washoe Tribe Buys 10,000 Acres in One of California’s Largest Ever Land Returns

| Dani Anguiano | The Guardian | February 11, 2026

The Guardian covers the Washoe Tribe’s purchase of more than 10,000 acres near Lake Tahoe. The article emphasizes healing, cultural practice, habitat protection, and the growing scale of California Land Back projects.

Washoe Tribe Completes Historic 10,274-Acre Land Return Near Lake Tahoe

| Native News Online Staff | Native News Online | February 10, 2026

The Washoe Tribe acquired the former Loyalton Ranch, renamed WélmeltiɁ Preserve. The article shows how tribal land trusts and conservation funding have become major tools for restoring ancestral lands.

Our Land to Begin With: Catholic Nuns’ Return of Land Breaks New Ground

| ICT Staff | ICT | January 1, 2026

This article examines Catholic institutions returning land to tribes as reparative action. It places church landholding, allotment, boarding schools, and missionary history within the modern Land Back movement.

Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation Gets 900 Acres of Land Back

| Native News Online Staff | Native News Online | December 2, 2025

Nearly 900 acres bordering Yosemite National Park were returned to the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation. The article shows how Land Back work can restore access to culturally significant lands surrounded by federal parks and forests.

Top Wins for Indigenous Peoples in 2024-2025

| Cultural Survival Staff | Cultural Survival | September 13, 2025

Cultural Survival summarizes major Indigenous victories, including land return and territorial protection. The article helps place U.S. Land Back developments within a global Indigenous rights context.

Yurok Tribe Secures Largest Land Back Transfer in California History

| Packard Foundation | Packard Foundation | July 8, 2025

This article describes the philanthropic and conservation support behind the Yurok land return. It is useful for understanding how foundations, tribes, and conservation groups can collaborate on Land Back projects.

Largest Ever Land Back-Conservation Deal in California Now Complete

| Yurok Tribe | Yurok Tribe | June 9, 2025

The Yurok Tribe’s official announcement details the completion of the Blue Creek land return. It explains the ecological importance of the watershed, the long partnership with Western Rivers Conservancy, and the tribe’s future stewardship plans.

California Tribe Reclaims Sacred Land Near Klamath River

| Grist Staff | Grist | June 5, 2025

Grist covers the Yurok Tribe’s recovery of more than 17,000 acres around the Klamath River. The article links Land Back to salmon restoration, dam removal, timberland recovery, and tribal ecological knowledge.

LAND BACK: Illinois Governor Signs Law Allowing Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation to Reclaim Its Stolen Land

| Levi Rickert | Native News Online | March 25, 2025

Illinois passed legislation connected to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation’s effort to reclaim Shabbona lands. The article shows how state legislation can become a pathway for reversing historic dispossession.

LANDBACK: Spirit Lake Nation Regains Land from Fish and Wildlife Service

| Stewart Huntington | ICT | March 1, 2025

Spirit Lake Nation regained 680 acres from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after a long campaign. The article demonstrates how Land Back can involve federal agencies returning lands taken under earlier conservation or agricultural programs.

LAND BACK: US Government Returns 680 Acres to Spirit Lake Nation

| Native News Online Staff | Native News Online | February 13, 2025

This Native News Online report covers the same Spirit Lake return as a 65-year reclamation effort. It is useful for documenting how land recovery often takes generations of legal and political pressure.

In Wyoming, Tribal Protests Prevent Land Transfer — For Now

| Grist Staff | Grist | January 15, 2025

Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho opposition delayed a proposed land transfer involving lands tied to long-running claims. The article shows that Land Back also includes preventing land from being transferred away from tribes.

A Native American Community Regains Its Rights to Land in a New Mexico National Preserve

| Noel Lyn Smith | Inside Climate News | December 24, 2024

Jemez Pueblo celebrated recognition of its rights to ancestral lands within Valles Caldera National Preserve. The article connects Land Back to national park lands, sacred places, and the long struggle for Pueblo land rights.

31,000 Acres at the Front of a Movement

| Olivia Gieger | Inside Climate News | November 17, 2024

The Penobscot Nation’s 31,000-acre land return in Maine is presented as a major conservation and sovereignty milestone. The article is useful for showing Land Back at landscape scale in the Northeast.

Rooting for Black Land Ownership

| Brea Baker | Yes! Magazine | July 23, 2024

Brea Baker links Indigenous Land Back with Black land loss and reparations. The article is useful for understanding how land justice movements can support one another without collapsing their distinct histories.

The State Senator Leading Efforts to Return Land to Tribal Nations

| Grist Staff | Grist | July 19, 2024

This article profiles state-level legislative efforts to return land to tribes. It shows how Land Back is increasingly pursued through bills, budget allocations, and state agency transfers.

Winnebago Land Transfer Act Signed Into Law

| ICT Staff | ICT | July 2024

Coverage of the Winnebago land transfer effort shows how Congress can return land held by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The article connects modern Land Back lawmaking to historic Missouri River dispossession.

The Mille Lacs Band Will See the Return of 18 Acres of Trust Land

| ICT Staff | ICT | June 29, 2024

Minnesota legislation returned 18 acres of state trust land inside the Mille Lacs Band reservation. The article is useful for documenting smaller but symbolically important land returns within reservation boundaries.

California to Support the Return of Ancestral Tribal Lands and Land Management Projects

| Office of Governor Gavin Newsom | State of California | April 26, 2024

California announced funding for tribal land return and management projects, including Hoopa Valley Tribe lands. The article shows how state conservation programs can be structured around ancestral land return.

Acre by Acre, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Bought Back Their Land

| Grist Staff | Grist | April 23, 2024

The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation’s long effort to buy back land in Illinois shows the slow, costly nature of reclaiming stolen homelands. The article highlights how Land Back can require both legal recognition and market purchases.

California Tribe Becomes the First to Manage Land with National Park Service

| Associated Press | The Guardian | March 20, 2024

The Yurok Tribe received land connected to Redwood National and State Parks and became a partner in managing it. The article demonstrates how Land Back can reshape public-land management and national park governance.

The West Berkeley Shellmound Sacred Site Will Be Returned to the Lisjan Ohlone Through Sogorea Te’ Land Trust

| Sogorea Te’ Land Trust | Sogorea Te’ Land Trust | March 13, 2024

This announcement marks the return of the West Berkeley Shellmound site to Lisjan Ohlone stewardship. It is a major urban Land Back example involving sacred sites, development pressure, and Indigenous-led land trusts.

Three Million Acres of Land Returned to Tribes Through Interior Department’s Land Buy-Back Program

| U.S. Department of the Interior | Department of the Interior | December 4, 2023

The Interior Department announced that the Land Buy-Back Program had restored nearly three million acres to tribal trust ownership. The program differs from grassroots Land Back but provides essential background on fractionated allotment lands and federal land consolidation.

A Land Back Achievement

| ICT Staff | ICT | September 5, 2023

The article profiles a successful Land Back effort and defines the movement as returning ownership and stewardship to Indigenous peoples. It is useful for a general historical overview of the movement’s goals and methods.

Over a Million Acres of Tribal Land Submerged by Dams in the US

| Staff | Phys.org | August 2023

This article reports on research about tribal lands flooded by U.S. dams. It is important background for Land Back because infrastructure projects have been major drivers of Indigenous land loss.

Major Landback Victory in New York State

| Grist Staff | Grist | July 5, 2022

Grist reports on the return of more than 1,000 acres to the Onondaga Nation. The article shows how environmental settlements and land restoration can become pathways for returning ancestral territory.

Ancestral Land Returned to Onondaga Nation in Upstate New York

| Associated Press | AP News | June 29, 2022

The AP covers the return of land near Onondaga Creek to the Onondaga Nation. The article connects the transfer to the Nation’s larger claim that millions of acres were taken illegally by New York State.

Fifty Years Ago: Mount Adams Returned to Yakama People

| ICT Staff | Indian Country Today | May 20, 2022

This historical article looks back at the 1972 return of Mount Adams lands to the Yakama Nation. It is important because it shows that Land Back did not begin with the hashtag; tribes have pursued land return for generations.

Rappahannock Tribe Gets 465 Acres of Land Back on Chesapeake Bay

| Joseph Winters | Grist | April 4, 2022

The Rappahannock Tribe regained 465 acres at Fones Cliffs, a sacred area along the Rappahannock River. The article links land return, conservation, bird habitat, and racial justice.

Sacred Land Returned to Native American Tribe in Virginia

| Axios Staff | Axios | April 3, 2022

Axios reports on the Rappahannock land return at Fones Cliffs. The article provides a concise account of federal, conservation, and tribal cooperation in returning sacred land.

The Healing Work of Returning Stolen Lands

| Cutcha Risling Baldy | Yes! Magazine | November 15, 2021

This article focuses on the Wiyot Tribe’s recovery of Tuluwat Island and the long healing work of returning stolen land. It shows how Land Back can repair massacre histories, cultural disruption, and community trauma.

This Land Was Stolen: Behind the Fight to Recover Sacred Ohlone Shellmounds

| Julian Brave NoiseCat | Grist | May 25, 2021

The article profiles Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and the fight to protect Ohlone shellmounds. It is a key source on urban Land Back, rematriation, and Indigenous women-led land trusts.

Kashia Coastal Reserve Return

| Trust for Public Land | Trust for Public Land | 2016

The Kashia Band of Pomo Indians regained access to nearly 700 acres on the Sonoma coast. This project is a major pre-2020 example of land return through conservation partnership and tribal ownership.

Tuluwat Island Returned to Wiyot Tribe

| City of Eureka | City of Eureka | October 21, 2019

Eureka’s return of Tuluwat Island to the Wiyot Tribe became a landmark municipal Land Back action. The source documents how city governments can transfer land as part of repair for local histories of violence.

The Wiyot Tribe’s Long Road to Tuluwat

| NPR Staff | NPR | October 21, 2019

NPR covered Eureka’s return of Duluwat/Tuluwat Island to the Wiyot Tribe. The story helped bring national attention to local land return as a model for reconciliation.

Going Home Again

| Paul McHugh | SFGATE | September 20, 2005

SFGATE tells the story of Wiyot people returning to a sacred island after massacre and dispossession. The article provides historical context for why Tuluwat became a touchstone in Land Back discussions.

Return of Indian Island: Restoring the Center of the Wiyot World

| North Coast Journal Staff | North Coast Journal | July 1, 2004

This article covers the early stages of returning Tuluwat/Indian Island to the Wiyot Tribe. It is historically important because the Wiyot return became one of the most cited examples of modern Land Back before the term became widespread.

LANDBACK Movement Organizing and Direct Action

Notable Land Restorations in the Land Back Movement

| LandBack.org | NDN Collective | Ongoing

LandBack.org collects movement materials and directs readers toward campaigns and resources. It is a useful portal for understanding the modern LANDBACK campaign and its relationship to local land struggles.

The Land Is Coming Home

| Indigenous Insider | Indigenous Insider | June 2026

California’s return of 17,030 acres to the Tule River Indian Tribe shows how the Land Back movement has moved from protest slogan to large-scale policy. The article places the Yowlumne Hills return within a broader wave of tribal land recovery, conservation funding, and Indigenous stewardship.

NDN Collective’s History, Present Moment, and the Path Ahead

| NDN Collective | NDN Collective | May 29, 2026

NDN Collective recounts how its organizing helped popularize LANDBACK as a political framework. The piece connects the Mount Rushmore protests, Black Hills activism, and the formal launch of the LANDBACK campaign.

Indigenous Grassroots Advocacy: Q&A with NDN Collective on Policy Work

| NDN Collective | NDN Collective | November 14, 2024

NDN Collective discusses how LANDBACK moved from frontline activism into federal policy conversations. The article helps explain the movement’s transition from protest, narrative work, and direct action into institutional advocacy.

The Right of Return Is LANDBACK

| NDN Collective | NDN Collective | March 30, 2022

NDN Collective links LANDBACK to international anti-colonial struggles and the right of return. The article is useful for understanding how the movement frames land return as a global decolonial principle.

NDN Collective Launches LANDBACK U

| NDN Collective | NDN Collective | June 15, 2021

LANDBACK U was created as a free political education platform for people joining land return struggles. The article shows how the movement built educational infrastructure to spread strategy and analysis.

National Bison Range Returns to Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

| Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes | CSKT Bison Range | 2021

The CSKT Bison Range site explains tribal management of the former National Bison Range. It is useful for showing Land Back as ongoing stewardship, not only a one-time legal transfer.

National Bison Range Restoration Act Background

| Office of Senator Steve Daines | U.S. Senate | December 21, 2020

The National Bison Range transfer returned management to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. It is a major example of returning federal conservation lands to tribal authority.

Beyond the Barricades

| Jorge Barrera | CBC News | November 25, 2020

CBC examines 1492 Land Back Lane, where Haudenosaunee land defenders resisted development on disputed territory. The article is important for understanding Canadian Land Back activism and direct-action land defense.

Announcing LANDBACK Now

| NDN Collective | NDN Collective | November 28, 2020

NDN Collective announced a livestream show dedicated to land, kinship, and collective liberation. The article shows how media and storytelling became tools for building the LANDBACK campaign.

To Decolonize Indigenous Lands, We Must Also Abolish Police and Prisons

| Nick Estes | Truthout | October 13, 2020

Nick Estes connects Land Back to abolition, treaty rights, and the broader struggle against settler colonial systems. The article is important for understanding Land Back as a structural demand rather than a symbolic gesture.

NDN Collective Premieres Ȟesápa, a LANDBACK Film

| NDN Collective | NDN Collective | September 22, 2020

NDN Collective’s film focused on Ȟesápa, the Black Hills, and the demand for Lakota land return. The article shows how film and narrative strategy helped spread the LANDBACK campaign.

LandBack Action Network Manifesto

| NDN Collective | LandBack.org | 2020

The manifesto frames LANDBACK as a campaign to reclaim land, language, ceremony, medicine, and kinship. It is a foundational movement document for understanding the slogan’s broader political meaning.

LANDBACK

| NDN Collective | NDN Collective | 2020

NDN Collective’s LANDBACK page defines the campaign as an organizing framework for collective liberation. It is a core primary source for the modern movement’s language, goals, and political strategy.

LAND BACK Resources

| NDN Collective | NDN Collective | 2020

This resource page gathers materials for people supporting land return. It shows how NDN Collective helped turn LANDBACK into a distributed campaign with educational and organizing tools.

1492 Land Back Lane Explained

| APTN News | APTN News | 2020

This explainer covers the Six Nations land defense known as 1492 Land Back Lane. It provides background on unceded territory, development disputes, and the role of encampments in Land Back organizing.

Land Recovery

| Indian Land Tenure Foundation | Indian Land Tenure Foundation | 2016

The Indian Land Tenure Foundation describes land recovery projects such as the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians’ recovery of coastal land. This source provides background on land recovery work before the hashtag era.

Conservation, Climate, and Environmental Stewardship

Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition

| Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition | Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition | 2015-present

The Bears Ears coalition represents Hopi, Navajo, Ute Mountain Ute, Ute Indian Tribe, and Zuni efforts to protect ancestral lands. While not a simple land transfer, it is central to Land Back history because it demands Indigenous-led stewardship of public lands.

LAND BACK: 47,097 Acres Returned to Yurok Tribe

| Native News Online Staff | Native News Online | June 5, 2026

The Yurok Tribe completed a 47,097-acre land return around Blue Creek and the Klamath River. The article frames the transfer as one of the largest conservation-linked Land Back victories in California history.

Indigenous Lands Can Outperform Protected Areas on Conservation

| Staff | Phys.org | May 2026

This article summarizes research showing the conservation value of Indigenous lands. It supports one of Land Back’s core arguments: Indigenous governance often protects biodiversity more effectively than colonial conservation models.

Landback: 600 Acres Return to Indigenous Stewardship in the Adirondacks

| Native News Online Staff | Native News Online | March 17, 2026

A 600-acre Adirondack property was returned to Indigenous stewardship for youth education, cultural reconnection, and environmental leadership. The article shows how Land Back can support intertribal education and cultural renewal.

Indigenous Land Transfers Help Meet California 30x30 Conservation Goals

| Friends of the Desert Mountains | Friends of the Desert Mountains | November 2025

This article describes land transfers to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians as part of California’s 30x30 conservation strategy. It illustrates how Land Back and biodiversity policy increasingly overlap.

Where Fire Back Means Land Back

| Yes! Magazine Staff | Yes! Magazine | September 23, 2024

This article connects Land Back to Indigenous fire stewardship in Oregon forests. It shows that land return often includes restoring cultural burning, traditional ecological knowledge, and tribal management authority.

The Land Back Movement Isn’t Just Focused on Ancestral Grounds

| Kate Nelson | Eater | February 20, 2024

This article connects Land Back to food sovereignty and Indigenous foodways. It shows that reclaiming land also means restoring access to traditional foods, hunting, fishing, gathering, seeds, and cultural practice.

Despite Indigenous Land Protections, Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon Continues

| Truthout Staff | Truthout | January 8, 2023

This article places Indigenous land protection within global environmental struggles. It is useful for showing why Land Back advocates argue that recognition must be paired with enforcement, jurisdiction, and resources.

Indigenous Leaders Call for Landback Reforms and Climate Justice

| Yes! Magazine Staff | Yes! Magazine | November 5, 2021

Indigenous authors argue that land return is central to climate justice. The article explains why Land Back is not only about ownership but also about restoring Indigenous governance and ecological relationships.

Climate Justice Means Returning Land to Indigenous Peoples

| Samantha Riedel | Them | November 12, 2021

This interview with Land Back Camp organizers connects Indigenous land return to climate justice, policing, queer and Two-Spirit safety, and community space. It shows how the movement operates through local camps and mutual aid as well as policy.

The Oil Spill in California Lends Urgency to Demand for Indigenous Land Stewards

| Charles Sepulveda and Angela Mooney D’Arcy | Truthout | October 17, 2021

This article argues that environmental disasters strengthen the case for Indigenous stewardship and land return. It links Land Back to California’s apology to Native peoples and the demand for actual restoration.

Biden Restores Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments

| White House | White House | October 8, 2021

The restoration of Bears Ears protections followed years of tribal organizing. The source is useful for showing how Land Back goals include co-management, sacred-site protection, and Indigenous authority over public lands.

Bears Ears Is a Step Toward Tribal Co-Management

| High Country News Staff | High Country News | 2021

This article examines Bears Ears as a model for tribal co-management. It helps explain the relationship between Land Back and shared governance where full title return has not occurred.

How Returning Lands to Native Tribes Is Helping Protect Nature

| Jim Robbins | Grist | June 12, 2021

This article surveys land returns tied to conservation and Indigenous management. It is useful for explaining the argument that returning land to tribes can strengthen ecological protection.

The Solution to the Ecological Crisis Isn’t Earth Day — It’s LANDBACK

| NDN Collective | NDN Collective | April 22, 2021

NDN Collective argues that ecological collapse is rooted in colonial land theft and extraction. The article makes the movement’s environmental claim: restoring Indigenous land relationships is essential to climate repair.

Biden’s First Climate Actions Are a Result of Years of Indigenous Activism

| Kelly Hayes | Truthout | January 26, 2021

This interview discusses Indigenous climate organizing, including LANDBACK as a growing framework. It shows how the movement influenced national climate conversations after years of pipeline and land-defense activism.

How the Indigenous Landback Movement Is Poised to Change Conservation

| Grist Staff | Grist | January 13, 2022

Although published in early 2022, this article reflects on the movement’s growth after 2020 and its potential to transform conservation. It explains why Land Back challenges fortress conservation and calls for Indigenous governance.

International, Extraction, and Global Indigenous Land Struggles

What the US Could Learn About Mining on Indigenous Lands

| Johanna Hansel, Carla Samon Ros, Wyatt Myskow | Inside Climate News | May 3, 2026

The article compares U.S. mining law with stronger Indigenous consultation systems elsewhere. It helps explain why Land Back activists argue that land return must include jurisdiction, consent, and protection from extractive industries.

How the Rush to Mine the Metal of the Future Echoes Centuries of Extraction

| Inside Climate News Staff | Inside Climate News | May 3, 2026

This article examines how proposed lithium and transition-mineral mines affect tribal homelands. It connects Land Back to the critique that green energy cannot repeat older patterns of colonial land seizure.

Land Back and Rematriation of Land on Turtle Island

| Cultural Survival Staff | Cultural Survival | December 2, 2025

Cultural Survival surveys examples of land return and rematriation across Turtle Island. The article is useful for explaining the movement’s language of “rematriation,” which emphasizes restoring relationship, care, and Indigenous responsibility to land.

A Patch of Indigenous Land, Rich in Metals, Pits Prominent Alaskans Against Each Other

| Inside Climate News Staff | Inside Climate News | November 14, 2025

The article explores tensions over Native corporation land, mineral rights, and development in Alaska. It complicates Land Back history by showing that Indigenous land control can still involve difficult choices about extraction and sovereignty.

Rich Countries’ Energy Transitions Threaten Indigenous Peoples

| Katie Surma | Inside Climate News | June 5, 2025

The article reports that many energy-transition mineral projects are located on or near Indigenous territories. It connects Land Back to climate justice arguments against repeating colonial extraction in the name of clean energy.

We Go In and Take Indigenous Land Back from Cattle Ranchers

| Mongabay Staff | Mongabay | November 21, 2022

This interview discusses Indigenous direct action to recover territory from cattle ranchers in Costa Rica. It shows that Land Back is part of a larger international pattern of territorial recovery and resistance.

In Brazil’s Soy Belt, Indigenous People Face Attacks Over Land Rights

| Mongabay Staff | Mongabay | November 8, 2022

The article describes violence against Guarani-Kaiowá communities seeking to reclaim ancestral lands. It provides a global comparison for understanding the risks faced by Indigenous land defenders.

Indigenous Colombians Escalate Fight to Rescue Ancestral Lands

| Santiago Navarro F. | Truthout | December 1, 2019

Nasa communities in Colombia used direct action to reclaim land from sugarcane plantations. The article places Land Back-style land recovery within a longer Latin American tradition of liberating territory.

Organizations, Education, Mapping, and Rematriation Tools

Shuumi Land Tax

| Sogorea Te’ Land Trust | Sogorea Te’ Land Trust | Ongoing

The Shuumi Land Tax asks non-Indigenous residents of Ohlone land to make voluntary contributions supporting rematriation. It is a key example of everyday participation in Land Back outside formal government land transfers.

Lisjan Ohlone History and Territory

| Sogorea Te’ Land Trust | Sogorea Te’ Land Trust | Ongoing

This history page explains Lisjan Ohlone territory, colonization, mission violence, and survival. It provides essential background for understanding why Bay Area Land Back efforts focus on rematriation and sacred-site protection.

Public Education: Rematriation and Ohlone History

| Sogorea Te’ Land Trust | Sogorea Te’ Land Trust | Ongoing

Sogorea Te’ Land Trust’s public education program includes presentations on Ohlone history, rematriation, and Indigenous cultural revitalization. The page shows how Land Back depends on public education as well as land acquisition.

Native Land Conservancy

| Native Land Conservancy | Native Land Conservancy | Ongoing

The Native Land Conservancy works to preserve and restore Indigenous stewardship in New England. It is a major example of land trust-based Land Back work focused on ancestral homelands, cultural access, and ecological care.

First Light: Learning Journey and Land Return

| First Light | First Light | Ongoing

First Light works with conservation organizations and Wabanaki communities to expand access, relationship, and land return. It is useful for understanding how conservation groups are being asked to move beyond land acknowledgments toward land rematriation.

Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship

| Wabanaki Alliance | Wabanaki Alliance | Ongoing

The Wabanaki Commission focuses on restoring Wabanaki relationships to land in Maine. The source provides background for Land Back work involving land trusts, conservation groups, and Indigenous-led stewardship.

Real Rent Duwamish

| Real Rent Duwamish | Real Rent Duwamish | Ongoing

Real Rent Duwamish asks Seattle-area residents to make recurring payments recognizing that they live on Duwamish land. It is an important example of land tax and reparative rent models connected to Land Back.

Honor Native Land Tax

| Honor Native Land Tax | Honor Native Land Tax | Ongoing

This project provides a model for voluntary land tax payments to Native communities. It helps document how Land Back has inspired recurring financial support structures where immediate title transfer is not yet possible.

Rematriate the Land

| Rematriate the Land | Rematriate the Land | Ongoing

Rematriate the Land centers Indigenous women and Two-Spirit-led land return and healing. The project is useful for explaining why some Land Back organizers prefer “rematriation” to emphasize care, kinship, and restoration.

Native Land Digital

| Native Land Digital | Native Land Digital | Ongoing

Native Land Digital maps Indigenous territories, languages, and treaties. While not a Land Back organization, it supports the public education side of the movement by helping people identify whose land they occupy.

Whose Land

| Whose Land | Whose Land | Ongoing

Whose Land is an Indigenous-led mapping and education project focused on territories, treaties, and communities. It is useful for Land Back education because it helps move people from land acknowledgment toward accountability.

Making Land Back a Reality

| Sogorea Te’ Land Trust | Sogorea Te’ Land Trust | June 11, 2024

Sogorea Te’ Land Trust explains practical ways to support rematriation. The resource shows how the Land Back movement includes local fundraising, land taxes, land gifts, and legal tools outside government action.

Why Indigenous Land Back Is a Feminist Issue

| Sogorea Te’ Land Trust | Sogorea Te’ Land Trust | November 17, 2023

This resource connects land dispossession to gender violence and Indigenous feminist politics. It broadens Land Back history by showing how rematriation is tied to safety, kinship, and community restoration.

New Site Documents #LandBack Movement

| Mongabay Staff | Mongabay | November 2023

Mongabay reports on efforts to document Land Back returns through mapping and data. The article is useful for showing how researchers and advocates are tracking the movement’s scale and momentum.

Are Land Trusts Part of the Land Back Movement?

| ICT Staff | ICT | September 14, 2023

This article examines whether and how land trusts can support Land Back. It helps explain the difference between conservation ownership, Indigenous title, and genuine return of decision-making power.

Seeds of Land Return

| Sogorea Te’ Land Trust | Sogorea Te’ Land Trust | May 25, 2023

This toolkit-style resource explains legal tools for returning land from private ownership to Indigenous and community stewardship. It shows how Land Back has developed practical mechanisms beyond protest and public policy.

Oakland to Return Land Rights to Indigenous Group

| The Oaklandside Staff | The Oaklandside | September 8, 2022

Oakland’s plan to return land rights to Sogorea Te’ Land Trust became a major urban Land Back case. The article shows how municipal land can be restored to Indigenous stewardship through easements and local government action.

City of Oakland Announces Plan to Return Sequoia Point Land to Indigenous Stewardship

| SFGATE Staff | SFGATE | September 2022

SFGATE covers Oakland’s plan to return Sequoia Point land to Sogorea Te’ Land Trust. The article is useful for showing how Land Back works in cities where land is highly developed and politically contested.

Giving Land Back to Indigenous People

| Sogorea Te’ Land Trust | Sogorea Te’ Land Trust | April 14, 2021

This resource explains how individuals and institutions can return land or support Indigenous land rematriation. It is useful for documenting practical Land Back pathways such as gifts, easements, and recurring land tax payments.

Land Acknowledgment Is Not Enough

| Native Governance Center | Native Governance Center | 2019

This guide explains how land acknowledgments can become empty without action. It is useful for Land Back history because the movement often critiques symbolic acknowledgments and calls for material return.

Legal History, Treaties, and Sovereignty Background

Free, Prior and Informed Consent

| Food and Agriculture Organization | FAO | Ongoing

This resource explains the principle of free, prior, and informed consent. It is central to Land Back because Indigenous communities argue that land use, mining, conservation, and development decisions require real consent.

Black Hills Legal History and the Sioux Nation

| U.S. Supreme Court | Justia | June 30, 1980

United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians confirmed that the Black Hills were taken in violation of treaty obligations, though the Court awarded money rather than land. This case is foundational to modern Black Hills Land Back demands.

Menominee Restoration Act

| U.S. Congress | Congress.gov | December 22, 1973

The Menominee Restoration Act reversed termination and restored the Menominee Tribe’s federal status. It is a key historical precedent for later movements demanding restoration of land, recognition, and tribal authority.

Boldt Decision and Treaty Fishing Rights

| HistoryLink | HistoryLink | February 12, 1974

The Boldt Decision upheld treaty fishing rights in Washington State. It is relevant to Land Back history because it affirmed that treaty rights to land and waters remain legally powerful.

Wounded Knee Occupation

| Britannica | Britannica | 1973

The 1973 Wounded Knee occupation protested federal treaty violations and conditions on Pine Ridge. It is a direct-action predecessor to Land Back encampments and land defense actions.

Trail of Broken Treaties

| National Museum of the American Indian | Smithsonian | 1972

The Trail of Broken Treaties brought Indigenous activists to Washington, D.C., demanding treaty enforcement and sovereignty. It is important background for Land Back because the movement grows from decades of treaty-rights organizing.

Alcatraz Occupation History

| National Park Service | National Park Service | 1969-1971

The occupation of Alcatraz by Indians of All Tribes helped launch a new era of Indigenous activism. Its demand for land and self-determination is a major predecessor to modern Land Back politics.

Termination Era and Tribal Land Loss

| National Library of Medicine | Native Voices | 1953-1968

The termination era ended federal recognition for many tribes and contributed to further land loss. This context helps explain why Land Back is connected to sovereignty restoration and the reversal of assimilation policy.

Public Law 280 and Tribal Jurisdiction

| Tribal Court Clearinghouse | Tribal Court Clearinghouse | 1953

Public Law 280 shifted jurisdiction in many states and weakened tribal authority. It is important background because Land Back is not only about acreage but also about restoring jurisdiction and self-government.

Indian Claims Commission Act

| National Archives | National Archives | 1946

The Indian Claims Commission offered monetary compensation for land claims but generally did not return land. This history helps explain why Land Back activists often reject cash settlements as inadequate replacements for territory.

Indian Reorganization Act, 1934

| Bureau of Indian Affairs | Bureau of Indian Affairs | 1934

The Indian Reorganization Act ended allotment policy and allowed some tribal land recovery, though it did not restore most stolen lands. It provides historical context for later trust land and Land Back strategies.

Dawes Act, 1887

| National Archives | National Archives | 1887

The Dawes Act broke up tribal land bases through allotment and opened “surplus” lands to non-Native settlement. It is essential background for Land Back because much modern land recovery responds to the massive land loss caused by allotment.

Treaty of Fort Laramie, 1868

| National Archives | National Archives | 1868

The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie recognized the Great Sioux Reservation, including the Black Hills. Land Back advocates cite this treaty to show that current demands are rooted in binding agreements, not symbolic claims.

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

| United Nations | United Nations | September 13, 2007

UNDRIP recognizes Indigenous rights to lands, territories, resources, consent, and self-determination. It provides an international legal framework often cited in Land Back and Indigenous land-rights advocacy.

Leech Lake Reservation Restoration Act

| U.S. Congress | Congress.gov | December 23, 2020

The Leech Lake Reservation Restoration Act restored federal lands within the Leech Lake Reservation to tribal trust status. It is an important legal example of returning lands through congressional action.

Leech Lake Band Celebrates Land Return

| Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe | Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe | 2020

The Leech Lake Band’s coverage of land restoration explains why the return mattered for sovereignty and reservation integrity. It shows how Land Back can repair federal land-management errors inside reservation boundaries.

Standing Rock, the Bundys, Leonard Peltier and the Search for Justice

| ICT Staff | Indian Country Today | November 17, 2016

The article contrasts Indigenous treaty-based land defense with anti-federal land politics. It helps explain why Land Back is rooted in sovereignty and treaty obligations rather than a generic anti-government claim.

Standing Rock Joins the World’s Indigenous Fighting for Land

| Truthout Staff | Truthout | September 30, 2016

This article predates the popular LANDBACK slogan but connects Standing Rock to treaty rights and Indigenous land defense. It is useful historical background for how pipeline resistance helped shape later Land Back organizing.

Books, Scholarship, and Theory

Land, Land Banks and Land Back

| Matthew Scobie, Glenn Finau, Jessica Hallenbeck | Environment and Planning A | 2024

This scholarly article links land banks, accounting, and Indigenous resurgence. It helps place Land Back within broader debates about property systems, social reproduction, and decolonial economics.

Some Land Back, Sort Of: The Transfer of Federal Public Lands to Indian Tribes Since 1970

| Audrey Glendenning | Natural Resources Journal | Summer 2023

This legal scholarship reviews federal public land transfers to tribes since 1970. It is valuable for distinguishing true Land Back from limited co-management, symbolic access, or transfers with restrictions.

Fresh Banana Leaves

| Jessica Hernandez | North Atlantic Books | 2022

Hernandez critiques colonial conservation and centers Indigenous science. The book is useful for Land Back history because it explains why returning land and authority is different from merely including Indigenous knowledge.

Becoming Kin

| Patty Krawec | Broadleaf Books | 2022

Krawec discusses settler responsibility, land, kinship, and Indigenous survival. The book is useful for readers trying to understand Land Back as a relationship-based responsibility rather than charity.

Land Back: A Meta Narrative to Help Indigenous People Show Up as Movement Leaders

| Nikki Pieratos, Sarah S. Manning, Nick Tilsen | Leadership | 2021

This scholarly article analyzes Land Back as a movement narrative and organizing framework. It is one of the most important academic sources for understanding how LANDBACK connects local struggles into a shared political vision.

The Indigenous Land Back Movement and What It Means for the Planet

| EcoMatcher | Medium | 2021

This article explains Land Back through the lens of biodiversity and climate resilience. It is useful for showing how the movement has entered mainstream environmental discussion, even outside Indigenous media.

Land Back: Returning the Land

| Common Good Collective | Common Good Collective | 2020

This reader explains Land Back as a movement extending beyond deeds to language, culture, food sovereignty, housing, and clean water. It is a useful introductory resource for public education.

Our History Is the Future

| Nick Estes | Verso Books | 2019

Nick Estes’s book connects Standing Rock, Lakota history, and centuries of Indigenous resistance to land theft. It is essential background for understanding Land Back as part of a long anti-colonial struggle.

As Long as Grass Grows

| Dina Gilio-Whitaker | Beacon Press | 2019

Gilio-Whitaker connects Indigenous environmental justice to treaty rights and land defense. The book helps explain why Land Back is central to environmental justice and climate politics.

As We Have Always Done

| Leanne Betasamosake Simpson | University of Minnesota Press | 2017

Simpson’s work on Indigenous resurgence emphasizes land-based practices, refusal, and nationhood. It provides theoretical background for Land Back as a return to relationships and responsibilities rather than only a property transfer.

All the Real Indians Died Off

| Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker | Beacon Press | 2016

This book challenges myths used to erase Native peoples and justify land theft. It is useful for Land Back history because erasure narratives often block recognition of ongoing Indigenous land claims.

Red Skin, White Masks

| Glen Sean Coulthard | University of Minnesota Press | 2014

Coulthard critiques colonial recognition politics and argues for Indigenous resurgence grounded in land. This book is important for understanding why Land Back activists often demand jurisdiction and self-determination rather than symbolic recognition.

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States

| Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz | Beacon Press | 2014

Dunbar-Ortiz reframes U.S. history around settler colonialism, land seizure, and Indigenous resistance. The book provides essential historical grounding for understanding why Land Back is a structural demand.

The Inconvenient Indian

| Thomas King | University of Minnesota Press | 2012

Thomas King’s book explains how North American colonial societies have repeatedly sought Indigenous land while denying Indigenous sovereignty. It is useful background for the public history behind Land Back.

Decolonization Is Not a Metaphor

| Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang | Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society | 2012

This influential essay argues that decolonization requires the repatriation of Indigenous land and life. It is a foundational theoretical source for Land Back and its critique of symbolic uses of “decolonization.”

The Transit of Empire

| Jodi A. Byrd | Duke University Press | 2011

Byrd examines U.S. empire and Indigenous dispossession. The book provides deeper historical and theoretical context for Land Back’s critique of settler colonialism.

General Explainers and Context

LAND BACK: All Nine South Dakota Tribes Support Black Hills Land Return

| Native News Online Staff | Native News Online | June 10, 2026

All nine federally recognized Tribal nations in South Dakota backed legislation to return federal lands in the Black Hills to the Great Sioux Nation. The article connects modern Land Back organizing to the long-standing Lakota demand that the Black Hills are not for sale.

UC Is Finalizing Its Land-Use Rules Without Involving Directly Impacted Tribes

| Staff | Truthout | May 18, 2026

This article links Land Back to university land use, repatriation, and Indigenous participation in decisions over ancestral remains and land. It shows how the movement extends beyond rural land returns into institutions built on Indigenous homelands.

Two Liberation Movements, Intertwined

| ICT Staff | ICT | March 3, 2026

This article compares Land Back with other liberation and reparations movements. It is useful for understanding how Indigenous land return is increasingly discussed alongside broader struggles against colonialism and racial dispossession.

Indigenous and Black Communities Find Common Cause in Land Justice

| Yes! Magazine Staff | Yes! Magazine | November 22, 2022

The article discusses land trusts and reparations work linking Indigenous and Black communities. It shows how Land Back intersects with anti-displacement, collective care, and removing land from speculative markets.

Questions About the LandBack Movement, Answered

| B. Toastie | High Country News | August 22, 2022

This explainer answers common questions about Land Back and corrects misconceptions about what the movement demands. It is one of the clearest introductions to the movement’s history, goals, and relationship to sovereignty.

ANCSA: A Complete or Incomplete Story of Sovereignty

| ICT Staff | Indian Country Today | February 22, 2022

This article examines the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and its consequences for land and sovereignty. It is useful background for Land Back because Alaska’s corporate land model differs from reservation and trust land systems in the Lower 48.

What Is Land Back?

| The Wellian Magazine | Duke University | November 8, 2021

This student publication summarizes the meaning of Land Back using NDN Collective’s framework. It is useful as an accessible introduction to the movement’s core demand: returning land, culture, and power.

What Is the Land Back Movement? A Call for Native Sovereignty and Reclamation

| Ruth Hopkins | Teen Vogue | October 12, 2021

Teen Vogue explains Land Back as a call for the return of Native lands and the dismantling of colonial systems. The article helped introduce the concept to a broad audience during the movement’s rapid growth on social media.

Stolen Souls and Broken Promises: Boarding Schools Are a Crisis of Land and Power

| ICT Opinion | Indian Country Today | October 13, 2021

This opinion piece connects boarding schools, stolen remains, and stolen land. It is useful for explaining why Land Back activists often connect land return to repatriation, memory, and the repair of assimilation policies.

Art Installations Remind LA Residents They’re on TONGVALAND

| ICT Staff | Indian Country Today | August 30, 2021

The article covers public art that made Indigenous land claims visible in Los Angeles. It shows how Land Back spread through art, signage, cultural memory, and public-space interventions.

The Landback Movement Would Return Stolen Land to Indigenous Stewardship

| Nick Martin | Architectural Digest | July 27, 2021

This article explains the Land Back movement to a design and architecture audience. It highlights how buildings, campuses, homes, and urban landscapes sit within histories of Indigenous dispossession.