Native American Tribe Gets Land Back After 400 Years

by Alisha Bhagat, Jul 8
1 minute read

The Rappahannock, a Native American tribe in Virginia was recently given back 465 acres of sacred land from the US Department of the Interior. The land has always been a place of natural, spiritual and cultural significance and is home to one of the largest nesting populations of Bald Eagles on the East Coast. The tribe plans to use the land for conservation and education of native youth.

So what?

There is a growing movement of indigenous people to reclaim their land across the United States and other nations in which they were displaced. If the land-back moment continues to gain momentum, what might this mean for settlers? As returning land is decolonization in practice, what resistance might supporters face from entrenched powers? In what ways does indigenous sovereignty contribute to a just and regenerative world for all?

Sources

Native American tribe gets its land back after being displaced nearly 400 years ago https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/02/us/sacred-land-rappahannock-tribe-trnd/index.html

Details

Location: United States
Other Tags: Conservation Decolonization indigenous rights Land

by Alisha Bhagat Spotted 27 signals

Alisha Bhagat is the futures lead at Forum for the Future. Her work focuses on the creative use of futures tools to impact long term positive change, particularly around social justice and equality. Alisha brings a broad toolkit to her work and designs games, creates immersive experiences, and brings the future to life. In addition to her work at Forum, Alisha is a part-time faculty member at Parsons School of Design where she teaches the Futures Studies and Speculative Design certificate. Prior to joining Forum, Alisha was a foreign policy consultant for the US government and a fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu. Alisha holds an MS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a BS in Anthropology and History from Carnegie Mellon University. She was awarded a Fulbright scholarship in 2005. When not thinking about the future, Alisha is an avid gamer and science fiction enthusiast.

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