Land Back
Virtual Workshop for Journalists
December 11 - 12, 2024
Land Back has been described as an effort by Indigenous people and nations to reclaim land taken from them during the colonization of North America. But #landback is about so much more than land: It’s about Indigenous people reasserting sovereignty over homelands, resources, sacred spaces, and stewardship choices.
And Land Back is gaining momentum. From southern California to Maine and points between, Indigenous people are using a wide array of tools to restore their heritage. Some Tribes have established land trusts to accept transfer of public land. Others are using land leases and similar agreements to gain co-management status over resources. Still others buy land outright.
As the Land Back movement grows, each new advancement raises a wide range of legal, economic, cultural and jurisdictional questions that journalists across the country must understand to accurately report on them.
To properly prepare journalists to cover this topic, the Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources, in conjunction with the Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) and the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ), presented a two-day virtual workshop. Topics included:
What is Land Back?
The history of U.S. land appropriation
The legal landscape
The many methods of Land Back
Sovereignty, repatriation/rematriation and governance
Sacred spaces
Land Back and ancient foodways
Fire for ecological and cultural restoration
Reporting in and about Indigenous communities
Participating Journalists:
This workshop made possible by the support of The Fund for Environmental Journalism/The Hewlett Foundation, and the partnership of the Indigenous Journalists Association.
