Give The Land Back?

Today we travel to a future where the US and Canada give stolen land back to tribes & bands. 

Guests:

• Molly Swain — co-host of Métis in Space, studying in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta & co-organizer of 2Land 2Furious.
• Chelsea Vowel — co-host of Métis in Space, author of Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada & co-organizer of 2Land 2Furious.
• Matthew Fletcher —  law professor at Michigan State University
• Graham Lee Brewer — associate editor at High Country News
• Mike Gouldehawke — writer & activist 

The intro scene was written & performed by Molly Swain and Chelsea Vowel, along with Johnnie Jae. 

You can donate to Molly & Chelsea’s landback project here. 

Further Reading:

• ‘This is all stolen land’: Native Americans want more than California’s apology
• 6 Native leaders on what it would look like if the US kept its promises
• Until Canada gives Indigenous people their land back, there can never be reconciliation
• Towards Decolonization and Settler Responsibility
• Decolonization readings
• The case for transferring federal lands back to Native Americans
• The Source of All that Sustains Us
• Historic U.S. island return to native tribe ‘path forward’ for other land transfers
• Big Sur tribe regains land 250 years after being removed
• Arts organization Yale Union transfers its land and building to Native ownership
• Native Land Conservancy Receives First Gift of Land
• In Historic First, Nebraska Farmer Returns Land to Ponca Tribe Along “Trail of Tears”
• Native American ‘land taxes’: a step on the roadmap for reparations
• These Indigenous Women Are Reclaiming Stolen Land in the Bay Area
• Why the Sioux Are Refusing $1.3 Billion
• 100 years of land struggle
• Land as a social relationship
• Why the Very First Treaty Between the United States and a Native People Still Resonates Today
• What If All Native Treaties Were Upheld?
• Allotment Act — 1887
• 1887: U.S. subdivides reservation land; sells off surplus
• Sovereign Relations on the West Coast
• The 1970s court case that reaffirmed tribal fishing rights in Michigan
• United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians
• The Return of Blue Lake to the Taos Pueblo
• Nixon crucial to Taos Pueblo’s recovery of Blue Lake
• Land repatriation as decolonization: Indigenous methods of reclaiming land and reversing “colonial spatial violence”
• The Marshall case
• Musqueam plan protest at Marpole Midden to mark 100 days vigil at ancient Vancouver site
• Back 2 the Land: 2Land 2Furious
• ‘Fire is medicine’: the tribes burning California forests to save them

Cree terms glossary

• kihci-tapwêwin – the great truth
• tânisi – hello, how are you
• namoya nânitaw – not bad 
• kiya mâka – and you?
• wâhkôhtowin – expanded kinship
• ostêsimâwasinahikêwin – writing or negotiating a treaty
• kinohteminihkwân cî maskihkîwâpoy – would you like some tea?
• wahwâ – a positive exclamation (like “great!” or “awesome!”)
• miyo-wîcêhtowin – the act of being in good relation
• wîtaskêwin – living together on the land
• kokum – grandmother
• mooshum – grandfather
• kâ-wêwêkisit – (name for someone) she who is laying down wrapped in a blanket

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Flash Forward is hosted by Rose Eveleth and produced by Julia Llinas Goodman. The intro music is by Asura and the outtro music is by Hussalonia. The episode art is by Matt Lubchansky. The voices from the future this episode were provided by 

If you want to suggest a future we should take on, send us a note on Twitter, Facebook or by email at info@flashforwardpod.com. We love hearing your ideas! And if you think you’ve spotted one of the little references I’ve hidden in the episode, email us there too. If you’re right, I’ll send you something cool. 

And if you want to support the show, there are a few ways you can do that too! Head to www.flashforwardpod.com/support for more about how to give. But if that’s not in the cards for you, you can head to iTunes and leave us a nice review or just tell your friends about us. Those things really do help. 

That’s all for this future, come back next time and we’ll travel to a new one. 

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