Takeaways from the 12th National Tribal Lands Staff Conference
I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the 12th national tribal land staff conference in Temecula, CA, which is an annual convening of professionals working across Indian Country. There was so much to learn and ponder on as the keynote speakers and main sessions were rich with information on governance, multi-jurisdiction considerations, and the stewardship of tribal nation land in trust and fee.
Here I’ll share with you some key discoveries that I came away with.
Discovery #1: Land stewardship is front and center of tribal governance and formation of legal structures
We can be largely unaware of the boundaries set by treaties, rules and regulations versus the rugged terrain of natural landscapes. Tribal nations, however, live deeply by this awareness because of the generational history they carry with these lands. This is so much so, that tribal ordinances, such as constitutional documents, may carry first the description of the land to which they belong. Take for example the first few lines from the preamble of the Yurok tribe’s constitution (full preamble can be read here):
“Our people have always lived on this sacred and wondrous land along the Pacific Coast and inland on the Klamath River, since the Spirit People, Wo-ge’, made things ready for us and the Creator, Ko-won-no-ekc-on Ne-ka-nup-ceo, placed us here. From the beginning, we have followed all the laws of the Creator, which became the whole fabric of our tribal sovereignty.”
Embedded into the fabric of the governing constitution of the Yurok Nation is the representation of the land, the geographic place of which they belong, as a gift to those who inhabit it. The rules of engagement with place are purposeful, spiritual. The preamble goes on to describe the story of the people and nation, which is the story of the land itself.
The significance of boundaries and how they set governance of our ways of being is ever present (think 4th grade history lessons), but in this expounding digital era of Western society, we quickly lose sight. This was illuminated for me when one of the keynote sessions took a deep dive into the 2020 Supreme Court case ruling on McGirt vs. Oklahoma. While the case itself was criminal in nature, the underlying question - and the ultimate ruling - was under which jurisdiction, defined by the physical boundaries set in place, should the crime be addressed? The Supreme Court effectively ruled to return state land to tribal jurisdiction by recognizing the original boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s treaty. With this ruling, the state of Oklahoma went from 1% of the lands being in Indian Country’s jurisdiction to 43% without a title transfer. The implications of who governs the land is great, and over time will continue to play out. Professor of Law, Robert J. Miller, of Arizona State University unpacks this case and its generational implications in the book, A Promise Kept.
Discovery #2: Where there is a will, there is a way for investment capital to be catalytic for restoring land
There are multiple land acquisition strategies that tribal nations employ to bring stolen or confiscated land back into the heritage and care of the tribes.
During a session about title insurance and tribal lands, I learned about some of the challenges tribes face when seeking to acquire land that is outside of being held in trust. One of the tribes represented had an elder share what his experience had been reclaiming land by acquiring fee title and leasing it out. Even if the land was not held in trust, it was important for the tribe to bring access under their governance, as their people were intimate with the land. He began to share that they knew the land as if it flowed through their DNA, because ancestors over many years had been on this land. And their existence – why they were still there – was to steward it and bring the salmon back.
Another strategy I learned of was conducted in partnership with the Bois Forte Band of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. Over 28,000 acres (or 21% of the original land base) was returned to the Tribe through the creative financing execution in partnership with The Conservation Fund, Indian Land Tenure Foundation and Indian Land Capital Company. The Conservation Fund became a conduit to facilitate the transfer of ownership by acquiring the Minnesota Heritage Forest and acknowledging that 28,000 acres of the 72,000 acquired from private land ownership fell within the settled boundaries of the Bois Forte reservation. Bringing together financing partners who understood the importance of holding kinship with the land and creating sovereign economic opportunities was critical in making this transition possible. With no waiver of sovereign immunity and no land taken as collateral, investors and funders structured the financing with land stewardship in heart and mind.
Discovery #3: It's time to go beyond the land acknowledgement for Indian Country
I’ll be the first to acknowledge that non-Native Americans are not well versed on the history of which tribal nations (recognized or not) were present and where across the North American landscape before colonizers came over. However, there has been in recent years a greater push to raise awareness and to bring honor to these first people through land acknowledgements. What Cris Stainbrook, Olgala Lakota and President of the Indian Land Tenure Foundation, shared that most land acknowledgements are missing one key element.
His review of hundreds if not thousands of land acknowledgement statements noted the beautiful craftsmanship of the language, but where was the call to action? Did the land acknowledgement stop there or continue on to answer humbly ‘What are you going to do about it?’ This simple yet profound question stayed with me as I am aware of the intent behind public statements made by businesses and organizations referencing land acknowledgements.
Words are powerful, but it is follow-through with such words that activate the power to heal and transform. Going beyond land acknowledgement means to put action behind the intent. This brings also to mind the timely news that the Vatican released a statement on March 30, 2023 that the Catholic Church has taken a stand to reject, or more formally repudiate, the 1493 Doctrine of Discovery, which the original legal grounds for seizure and destruction of indigenous communities and lands across the world during the colonial era. This declaration is a necessary step in addressing the horrific wrongs justified by the Doctrine of Discovery. We hope such declarations will continue to lead to responsive action on behalf of all indigenous peoples.
Sacred Futures response to this call to action is to continue dedicating resources to learn and share authentically what it means to be of service to Indian Country as a resident in North America and to build relationships in the hyperlocal and regional areas we hold presence in.
Because I elected to drive two hours to the conference each day, I had some time to reflect on these learnings more fully. On one of my treks from Santa Monica to Temecula during those days, I was greeted with one of the most torrential rain storms I’d experience since moving to California. And while it was not pleasant to navigate through LA drivers in the rain, the downpour illuminated the landscape in a way I'd not seen before. After the storm in the morning, the sun burst forth and the clarity of the bright blue sky descended on the mountains, lush in wild varieties of green. My eyes could not consume enough of the beauty as I drove.
An elder of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians opened the conference with prayer and story. The story was of how the Pechanga Casino Resort actually came to be and why it was imperative it was there. The battle for the land the Pechanga Tribe exists for, the heritage of this place, came alive for me on that drive. When the sunlight illuminated the grizzly back of the land, I could see and I could hear. In that moment, the mountains were singing. There was a personal invitation to notice deeply the tangible connection present to be adopted into this landscape. My roots - from the temperate deciduous forest lands of Ohio to my generational lineage that holds story in Tennessee, Kentucky and Georgia, and long before that, in West Africa - were making room to attach to the presence of sacred wonders in the chaparral and woodlands of California.
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