Land Back Movement and What It Actually Asks For

You have seen the words on a protest sign, a T-shirt or a social media profile, and you are not sure what they mean in practice. The Land Back movement is often described in extreme terms by critics and in vague terms by supporters, which leaves most people unsure what is actually being asked for.

The short answer is that Land Back is a call to return land, and decisions about land, to Indigenous nations. The longer answer involves specific parcels, real legal mechanisms and a growing list of returns that have already happened. This guide sets out what the movement asks for, what it does not ask for and how people outside Native communities can support it in concrete ways.

Where the Land Back movement came from

The idea is as old as dispossession itself. Native nations have pursued the return of their land through treaties, courts, Congress and direct action for well over a century. What is new is the phrase. "Land back" spread widely online around 2018, often as a short reply in conversations about Indigenous rights, and it quickly became a rallying cry.

In 2020, the Rapid City based organization NDN Collective launched a formal LANDBACK campaign. It focused attention on the Black Hills in South Dakota, land guaranteed to the Lakota in the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie and taken after gold was found there. Mount Rushmore, carved into that land, became a symbol for the campaign.

The Black Hills case shows why the movement is about land and not money. In 1980, the US Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Sioux Nation that the land had been taken illegally and awarded about 102 million dollars. The Lakota refused the payment because accepting it would mean accepting the sale. The money has stayed in a federal account ever since and has grown to more than 2 billion dollars. It remains unclaimed. For the history behind this, read our piece on the treaty system and how it was broken.

What Land Back actually asks for

Land Back is not a single policy. Organizers describe it as a set of goals that can be reached in different ways depending on the place.

• Return of public land. Transferring federal, state or city land to tribal ownership, especially sacred sites and land taken in violation of treaties.
• Co-management. Giving tribes a formal role in managing land they do not own, such as national parks and forests. The tribal coalition behind Bears Ears National Monument is one example of this model.
• Purchase and donation. Conservation groups, churches and private owners buying or giving land to tribes and Native-led land trusts.
• Decision-making power. Requiring tribal consent, not just consultation, for projects such as pipelines and mines on or near ancestral land.

What it does not ask for

Critics often claim that Land Back means taking people's homes. That is not what organizers are asking for. Every major campaign has focused on public land, sacred sites, conservation land and voluntary transfers. No mainstream Land Back group has called for evicting private homeowners.

Land returns that have already happened

The movement is often treated as theoretical. It is not. Several significant returns have taken place in the last few years.

Tuluwat Island is a powerful example. It was the site of an 1860 massacre of Wiyot people during a ceremony. For years, the tribe raised money to buy back small pieces of the island, and in 2019 the city council voted to return most of what remained. The return happened through ordinary local government, which shows that Land Back does not always require federal action.

Why a land acknowledgment is not enough

A common piece of advice for schools, companies and event organizers is to open with a land acknowledgment. Naming the nations whose land you are on is respectful, and it is better than silence. But it is often presented as the main thing non-Native people can do, and that is where the advice falls short.

An acknowledgment recognizes a relationship without changing anything about it. Many tribal members have said they find acknowledgments uncomfortable when they are not paired with action, because the words admit a debt while doing nothing to repay it. A university that reads an acknowledgment before every event but holds thousands of acres of land granted under the Morrill Act has not done much for the people it names.

The better approach is to treat the acknowledgment as the start of a commitment. Ask what the organization owns, who it buys from and where its money goes. Then act on the answers.

How to support Land Back in practical ways

You do not need to own land to make a difference. Here are concrete steps, starting with the easiest.

1. Learn whose land you live on. Find out which nations were there before, whether they are still present and whether they are federally recognized.
2. Pay a voluntary land tax. Some Native-led land trusts collect regular contributions from people living on their ancestral territory. The Sogorea Te' Land Trust in the San Francisco Bay Area, led by Ohlone women, runs a well known example called the Shuumi Land Tax.
3. Support tribal land purchases. Tribes often raise funds to buy back specific parcels. Donations go directly toward land returns.
4. Pressure local government. City and county land can be transferred by council vote, as the Wiyot case shows. Attend meetings and ask whether surplus public land could go to local tribes.
5. Think about what you own. If you or your family hold rural or undeveloped land, conservation easements and land gifts to tribes are real options. Speak to a lawyer who has worked with tribal nations.

The movement also connects to other struggles. The pipeline fight described in the Standing Rock movement and what it taught us was, at its core, a fight over who decides what happens to land and water.

Frequently asked questions

What does Land Back mean?

Land Back means returning land, and control over land, to Indigenous nations. It covers public land transfers, co-management agreements and voluntary purchases or donations. The goal is restored Indigenous authority over ancestral territory.

Does Land Back mean taking people's homes?

No. Organizers have focused on public land, sacred sites and voluntary transfers from willing owners. No major Land Back campaign has called for evicting private homeowners.

Has any land actually been returned to tribes?

Yes. Recent examples include Tuluwat Island in California, returned to the Wiyot Tribe in 2019, and the National Bison Range in Montana, transferred to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in 2020. Smaller returns happen every year through purchases and local government votes.