A Guide to Reparations & Reparative Action
San Tan Regional Park, AZ | 1883 Executive Action (O’odham) & 1886 Executive Order (Nde)
Land history can crack you open. Suddenly, you see connections between people and places and centuries. You are a rock in a river of swirling history. Ground that was solid becomes squishy as you look for the next right step.
There is no one right answer to the questions that are flooding you. But there are a whole lot of people who have already examined their own relationships to stolen land and stolen labor. They have already begun their own reparative paths. Use these examples as a model and inspiration for what comes next.
Whatever path you choose, you’ll be most successful if you find a next step that aligns with your interests and builds on your existing resources and network. Are you an artist? Do you have a land inheritance? Can you influence workplace decisions? Are you an active alumnus of a college or university? Browse through this post or jump straight to the category that speaks to you!
Reparations
Land Back
Purchase money from an organization: “Trekking through tribal lands as the Penobscot Nation plans to reacquire 30,000 acres near Katahdin,” Nate Hathaway | The Maine Monitor (Mar. 18, 2024)
Land from a city: “Indigenous people rejoice after city of Berkeley votes to return sacred Native land to Ohlone,” Janie Har and Olga R. Rodriguez (Mar. 13, 2024)
Land from a state university: “University of Minnesota fields comments on plan to return Cloquet Forestry Center lands to Fond du Lac band,” Ava Kian | MinnPost (Feb. 14, 2024)
Purchase money from an organization: “Hoopa Valley Tribe reclaims 10,000+ acres of ancestral lands in historic deal,” Adam Robinson | ABC 7 KRCR (Dec. 20, 2023)
Purchase from individuals: “‘We're reclaiming what we believed was ours to begin with': Tonkawa tribe buys Sugarloaf Mountain,” Brieanna Smith | 25 ABC (Dec. 13, 2023)
Land from a church: “Barbie’s Village is Portland’s latest Land Back achievement,” Jarrett Werk | Underscore News (Nov. 11, 2023)
Land from a town: “‘Desperately needed space.’ Mashpee to sign over 13.5 acres to Wampanoag Tribe,” Rachel Devaney | Cape Code Times (Oct. 17, 2023)
Purchase money from an organization: “Unraveling Manifest Destiny: Across Indian Country, Tribal Nations are Buying Back Their Land, One Parcel at a Time,” Karen Goodluck | Sierra: The Magazine of the Sierra Club (Fall 2023)
Land from a city: “Lake City returns 3 acres of land back to Prairie Island Indian Community,” Mathew Holding Eagle III | MPR News (Sept. 15, 2023)
Purchase money from a state: “A return to the past: Monument Mountain set to revert back to Mohican stewardship,” Leslee Bassman | The Berkshire Edge (Aug. 30, 2023)
Land from a state: “Minnesota poised to close state park, return land to Dakota tribe,” Greg Stanley | Star Tribune (May 11, 2023)
Land from an organization : “Sacred Split Rock Mountain bought from sewer authority, donated to Ramapough Indians,” Marsha A. Stoltz | NorthJersey.com (Apr. 9, 2023)
Land from a state university: “University of Minnesota says it will return forestry land to Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa,” Liz Navratil | Star Tribune (Feb. 9, 2023)
Payment from a church: “ILTF announces Beyond Land Acknowledgement Fund,” Indian Land Tenure Foundation (Jan. 9, 2023)
Land from a city: “‘A sacred place’: Tunica-Biloxi Tribe regains possession of ancestral land in Marksville,” Melinda Martinez | Alexandria Town Talk (Jan. 5, 2023)
Land access from a city: “Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and City of Oakland Announce Plan to Return Land to Indigenous Stewardship,” Inés Ixierda | Sogorea Te’ Land Trust (Sept. 9, 2022)
Payment from a church: “Reparations— From Intention to Action,” Bishop Amy Odgren | Northeastern Minnesota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (Oct. 6, 2022)
With an individual: “Wounded Knee land comes home at last,” Mary Annette Pember | Indian Country Today (Sept. 14, 2022)
Land from a city: “Fond du Lac Band celebrates return of sacred sites,” Dan Kraker | MPR News (Aug. 19, 2022)
Land from an organization and the United States: “Native American tribe gets its land back after being displaced nearly 400 years ago,” Zoe Sottile | CNN (Aug. 8, 2022)
Land from the United States: “Remembering the return of Blue Lake,” Mark Trahant | Indian Country Today (July 9, 2022)
Land from an organization: “Return of 28,000 acres to Minnesota tribe is likely largest land-back deal ever,” Melissa Olson & Matt Sepic | MPR News (June 8, 2022)
Land from the United States: “Decades after taking it, feds set to return Minnesota land to Leech Lake band,” Melissa Olson | MPR News (May 18, 2022)
Land from an organization: “Significant Washington land returned to the Colville Tribe, its original stewards,” Owen L. Oliver | The Nature Conservancy (May 3, 2022)
Land from a company: “Lumber company returns waterfront property to Native American tribe in Washington state at no cost,” Brooke Migdon | The Hill (Dec. 25, 2021)
Land from a state: “‘Steps toward healing’: Dakota tribe reclaims its land—and its story,” Hannah Yang | MPR News (Mar. 3, 2021)
Land from a city: “California city returns island taken from native tribe in 1860 massacre,” The Guardian | Associated Press (Oct. 21, 2019)
Land from a congregation: “The U.S. once forced this Native American tribe to move. Now they’re getting their land back,” Marisa Iati | The Washington Post (Sept. 20, 2019)
Land from an individual: “A nomadic plumber found mysterious stones on his land — so he became the first person to return land to the Ute Indian Tribe,” Andrew Kenney | The Denver Post (Sept. 13, 2019)
Land from the United States: “When public lands become tribal lands again: A story of fire, stolen lands, and how hard it is to get the U.S. to follow its own laws,” Anna V. Smith | High Country News (Aug. 16, 2019)
Monetary and Resource Reparations
“Church of England and the slavery reparations row,” Rebekah Evans | The Week (Mar. 11, 2024)
“Local Group Works On Reparations, Linnentown And How To Move Forward,” Grady Capstone Journalist | Grady News Source (Jan. 9 , 2023)
“Lansing church gives thousands of dollars for local reparations,” Sophia Saliby | WKAR Public Media (Dec. 11, 2023)
“Racial covenants limited housing options for Black residents in Champaign; a local group aims to repair that harm,” Emily Hays | IPM News (Dec. 11, 2023)
“Philanthropy Is Stepping up to Advance Reparations and Racial Repair,” Abby Schultz | Barron’s (Dec. 6, 2023)
“Non-profit addresses racial gap with reparations,” Deanna Giles | WILX (Sept. 14, 2023)
“Evanston Reparations Committee moves forward with recipient selection,” Joyce Li | The Daily Northwestern (Nov. 3, 2023)
“Athens churches raise money for Linnentown reparations,” Rebecca McCarthy | Flagpole (Oct. 25, 2023)
“‘This is just the beginning’: Apology for closure of Juneau’s Memorial Presbyterian Church means healing decades later,” Clarise Larson | Juneau Empire (Oct. 10, 2023)
“Jesuits, Georgetown give $27M to fund for descendants of enslaved people,” Susan Svrluga | The Washington Post (Sept. 13, 2023)
“How a church photograph has put reparations in view,” Dedria Humphries Barker | Lansing City Pulse (Aug. 31, 2023)
“These Twin Cities churches are making reparations to Black and Indigenous communities,” Auds Jenkins | Star Tribune (Aug. 29, 2023)
“Ideas we should steal: Grassroots housing reparations,” Roxanne Patel Shepelavy | The Philadelphia Citizen (Aug. 29, 2023)
“‘A form of reparation': Minnesota will send money to communities harmed by marijuana prohibition,” Ryan Faircloth | Star Tribune (Aug. 2, 2023)
“Bush Foundation giving away $50M to slave descendants in Minnesota and Dakotas,” Dee DePass | Star Tribune (June 5, 2023)
“Black church, NHL’s Penguins reach historic land-use accord,” Associated Press (Apr. 14, 2023)
“St. Paul soon to launch forgivable housing loan program for former Rondo residents,” Katie Galioto & Zoë Jackson | Star Tribune (Feb. 4, 2023)
“Canada settles residential schools lawsuit for $2.8bn,” Madeline Halpert | BBC News (Jan. 22, 2023)
“Reparations— From Intention to Action,” Bishop Amy Odgren | Northeastern Minnesota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (Oct. 6, 2022)
“'This needs to be done': California Reparations Task Force poised to make national headlines,” Becca Habegger | ABC10 (Feb. 16, 2022)
“Moral reckoning: A Presbyterian Church tests model to surrender wealth to Afro American, Indigenous communities,” Scott Russell | Healing Minnesota Stories (Dec. 13, 2021)
“Canada set to pay billions to Indigenous children removed from their families, court rules,” Nicole Chavez and Elizabeth Joseph | CNN (Sept. 30, 2021)
“In Likely First, Chicago Suburb Of Evanston Approves Reparations For Black Residents,” Rachel Treisman | MPR News (March 23, 2021)
“A price tag on trauma? Massachusetts town weighs Black reparations,” Associated Press | NBC News (Mar. 10, 2021)
“The blueprint the US can follow to finally pay reparations,” Annabelle Timsit | Quartz (Oct. 22, 2020)
“Reparations are a peace treaty,” David Ragland | yes! (Aug. 8, 2019)
Honor Taxes
Mni Sota Makoce Land Tax wealth shift to the Lower Sioux Indian Community in Minnesota
“Voluntary land taxes,” Native Governance Center
Honor tax payments to the Wiyot Nation in Northern California
Real Rent payments to the Duwamish Nation near Seattle, Washington
Shuumi Land Tax wealth shift to the San Francisco Bay area Sogorea Te’ Land Trust
Manna-hatta Fund wealth shift to New York City’s American Indian Community House
Nii’kinaaganaa Foundation rent and redistribution
Honor Native Land Tax wealth shift to the New Mexico Pueblo Action Alliance and The Red Nation
Reparatory Actions
Resource return
Remains repatriation
“Cornell University returns Native ancestors 60 years after they were dug out of the ground,” Jenna Kunze | Native News Online (Jan. 24, 2023)
“Part of skull found along Minnesota River belongs to man from 8,000 years ago,” Tim Nelson and Matt Sepic | MPR News (May 19, 2022)
“Atonement and reparations for Native American boarding schools,” Tom Crann | MPR News (July 29, 2021)
“How the Smithsonian Is Reuniting Thousands of Human Remains with Indigenous Communities,” Kayla Randall | Washington City Paper (Oct. 18, 2018)
Returned catlinite pipe linked to U.S. Dakota war
Photo credit: Skinner, Inc.
Artifact repatriation
“‘Our children came home with moccasins’: Beaded moccasins confiscated from a Native boy at the Carlisle school more than 100 years ago finally return to their homelands,” Charles Fox | ICT (Oct. 23, 2023)
“Sacred Red Rock unveiled: A remarkable journey of rediscovery and repatriation,” Stuart Sudak | Eden Prairie Local News (June 23, 2023)
“Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Talks About Discovery of Ancestral Remains at UND,” Emily Welker | KVRR Local News (Sept. 18, 2022)
“Vatican says antiquities are gifts but Canadian indigenous groups want them back,” Niole Winfield | NBC Boston (July 21, 2022)
“Harvard returns Standing Bear’s tomahawk to Nebraska tribe,” Associated Press (June 27, 2022)
“'Unprecedented blessing': 285-year-old land use deed returned to Ramapough by Sloat family,” Marsha A. Stoltz | NorthJersey.com (June 4, 2022)
“Glasgow museums to return 49 looted objects—including Benin bronzes—in biggest restitution in Scottish history,” Gareth Harris | The Art Newspaper (Apr. 14, 2022)
“Seattle will return 270 artifacts to Upper Skagit Tribe,” Paige Browning | KUOW (Mar. 17, 2022)
“‘The right thing to do’: Why a Sioux warrior’s ceremonial items are leaving Nebraska museum, headed to his family in Florida” Peter Salter | Lincoln Journal Star (Feb. 28, 2022)
“Mystery benefactor returns sacred pipe tied to U.S.-Dakota war,” Mark Steil | MPR News (May 7, 2018)
Resource redistribution
Tuition programs
“UW-Madison to cover full cost of college for Native students from Wisconsin tribes,” Corrinne Hess | Wisconsin Public Radio (Dec. 18, 2023)
“Arizona offers free college tuituion to the state’s Native students,” Sequoia Carrillo | NPR (June 28, 2022)
University of Minnesota tuition assistance to enrolled members of federally recognized tribes in Minnesota
Augsburg University American Indian Recognition Full Tuition Program for all enrolled members of any federally recognized tribe and their direct descendants
University of California Native American Opportunity Plan full tuition for California residents who are enrolled members of any federally recognized tribe
Birchbark Books | Minneapolis, MN | 1851 Treaty with the Sioux (Dakota)
Photo credit Birchbark Books
Restructuring work
“Underpaid staff don’t need motivation, they need dollar bills and benefits,” Chris Talbot-Heindl | Community Centric Fundraising (Jan. 10, 2022)
Song royalties
“This church is paying ‘royalties’ when it sings spirituals composed by enslaved Africans,” Craig LeMout | GBH News (Nov. 16, 2021)
Intentional purchasing
Woodlands National Bank, owned and operated by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota
First Independence Bank, Black-owned and operated in Minnesota and Michigan
Black Garnet Books, Black-owned bookstore in St. Paul, MN with in-store and online order
Birchbark Books, indigenous-owned bookstore in Minneapolis, MN
Representation
“After backlash, Minnetonka moccasins relaunch style with redesign by Indigenous artist,” Gita Sitaramiah | Star Tribune (Feb. 15, 2024)
“Dakota women leading two Twin Cities nonprofits aim to be catalysts for change,” Matthew Holding Eagle III | MPR News (Jan. 2, 2024)
“Native American and Pacific Islander Bruins Rising Initiative sets indigenous faculty goals,” University of California Los Angelets (June 16, 2022)
Land use
Sample Hennepin County, MN racial restrictive covenant.
Photo credit: Mapping Prejudice
Ending harmful use
“Citing an Indigenous cemetery, A.P. Anderson dog park closed by city,” Republican Eagle (Nov. 15, 2023)
“Racial covenants from the 1950s helped me buy my house,” Jesse Dukes | WEBZ Chicago (Nov. 23, 2021)
Co-management
“Land trust, watershed council and Coos tribe unite to restore Siuslaw wetlands on former 200-acre dairy farm,” Brian Bull | Underscore News (Jan. 1, 2024)
“In new collaborations, tribes become stewards of parks and monuments,” Alex Brown | Minnesota Reformer (Sept. 25, 2023)
“In Minnesota’s forest management, Indigenous knowledge now shapes scientific practice,” Mathew Holding Eagle III & Kirsti Marohn | Sahan Journal (July 29, 2022)
“BLM, Forest Service and Five Tribes of the Bears Ears Commission Commit to Historic Co-management of Bears Ears National Monument,” U.S. Department of the Interior (June 20, 2022)
“Frog Bay in Wisconsin is the first-ever tribal national park,” Melanie Radzicki McManus | Star Tribune (Feb. 18, 2022)
“Grand Portage State Park: Snapshot virtual tour,” Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Educational programming
“Melanie Smokey ignites conversation on Indigenous conservation efforts in Las Vegas,” Ebenezer Mensah | bnn (Feb. 24, 2024)
“New Sherburne County park protects sacred Indigenous site,” West Central Tribune (Jan. 24, 2023)
“Sacred in the city: Indigenous site in St. Paul prepared to welcome, educate public,” Melissa Olson | MPR News (June 14, 2022)
Space sharing
“U.S. Bank donates riot-damaged Minneapolis branch to nonprofit developer,” Neal St. Anthony | Star Tribune (Nov. 23, 2021)
Restoration
“Marvin Anderson explains what Rondo was — and what it can be,” Joseph Ramos | Minnesota Reformer (June 17, 2022)
“State to sow seeds of native wild rice plan with Michigan tribes,” Sheri McWhirter | MLive (Mar. 10, 2022)
“Sweetgrass to be replanted at Winona’s Unity Park” Winona Post (Sept. 27, 2021)
Protective designation
“Minnesota park recognized as sacred cemetery,” Kalle Benallie | Minnesota Reformer (July 19, 2021)
Truth telling
Education
“Misplaced Trust: Stolen Indigenous land is the foundation of the land-grant university system. Climate change is its legacy,” Tristan Ahtone, Robert Lee, Amanda Tachine, An Garagiola, Audrianna Goodwin, Maria Parazo Rose, & Clayton Aldern | Grist (Feb. 7, 2024)
“Organized religion supported NJ slave trade, Reparations Council is told,” Briana Vannozzi | NJ Spotlight News (Jan. 15, 2024)
“Pipestone National Monument retells its story from a Native perspective,” Lisa Meyers McClintick | Star Tribune (Aug. 11, 2023)
“‘We need each other’: Prairie Island, Red Wing start ‘Honoring Dakota’ mural,” Cathy Wurzer | MPR News (Jan. 19, 2023)
“Hennepin County Board acknowledges land and water taken from area Native Americans,” David Chanen | Star Tribune (Dec. 27, 2022)
“US boarding school investigative report released,” Kalle Benallie | Indian Country Today (May 11, 2022)
“California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Interim Report,” (June 2022)
“Hidden' 1942 document exposes Maine's scheme to avoid paying millions to tribes,” Jessica Piper | WGME 13 (Apr. 16, 2022)
“751 unmarked graves is ‘a wake up call,’” APTN National News & Indian Country Today (June 24, 2021)
“A strategic analysis of the Morrill land grab in Minnesota,” Center for Urban and Regional Affairs & Resilient Communities Project
Renaming
“Minneapolis goes with Camden High School, sheds slaveholder's name,” Mara Klecker | Star Tribune (Dec. 12, 2023)
“Yellowstone’s Mount Doane name changes to First Peoples Mountain; Action taken to remove offensive name from America’s first national park,” National Park Service (June 9, 2022)
“Minneapolis street renamed for city's first Black firefighter,” John Croman | Kare11 (Mar. 17, 2022)
“Two Rivers to replace Henry Sibley as high school name,” Kai Sanchez | Pioneer Press (June 21, 2021)
“West Calhoun’s new name aims to recognize Dakota heritage,” Zac Farber | Southwest Journal (July 17, 2020)
“Yale changes Calhoun College’s name to honor Grace Murray Hopper,” Yale News (Feb. 11, 2017)
Personal and organizational assessment
Intermill Family Farm | Jewell Co., KS | 1825 Treaty with the Kansa (Kanza)
“Yale vows new actions to address past ties to slavery, issues apology, book,” Yale News (Feb. 16, 2024)
“‘Silent for far too long’: Family of man who commissioned last known slave ship on efforts to make amends,” 60 Minutes (Nov. 19, 2023)
“New South Bend commission to examine legacy of racism on city's Black residents,” Jordan Smith | South Bend Tribune (Sept. 25, 2023)
“Groundbreaking New Jersey Reparations Council Announces First Ever Public Hearing,” Kaitlyn Kennedy | Tag 24 (Sept. 7, 2023)
“Cambridge prepares to talk reparations; Commission enacted by law is the start,” Marc Levy | Cambridge Day (Sept. 1, 2023)
“Researchers reveal U’s painful past with Minnesota’s Indigenous people,” Melissa Olson & Dan Kraker | MPR News (Apr. 11, 2023)
“Troubling stories surface as U probes its history with Native people,” Melissa Olson | MPR News (June 30, 2022)
“What is land history? My land story,” Jessica Intermill | Intermill Land History Consulting (May 10, 2022)
A Self-Assessment, Native Governance Center (Feb. 13, 2021)
“New British dictionary to detail thousands who profited through slave trade,” Martyn McLaughlin | The Scotsman (Dec. 28, 2020)
“U.S. Bishops Approved “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love, A Pastoral Letter Against Racism," U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (Nov. 14, 2018)
Retraction
“Journal retracts more articles for being ‘unethical, scientifically flawed, and based on racist ideas and agenda,’” Retraction Watch Staff | MDedge (Aug. 25, 2021)
Apology
“San Francisco Formally Apologizes to Black Residents for Decades of Racist Policies,” Janie Har | AP (Feb. 27, 2024)
“Yale vows new actions to address past ties to slavery, issues apology, book,” Yale News (Feb. 16, 2024)
“The Netherlands Formally Apologizes for Its Role in 250 Years of Slavery,” Mike Corder | Associated Press (Dec. 19, 2022)
“Pope is set to make historic apology to Indigenous peoples for school abuses in Canada,” Associated Press (July 25, 2022)
“A reckoning: St. Benedict nuns apologize for Native boarding school,” Dan Gunderson | MPR News (Oct. 26, 2021)
“Governor Newsom Issues Apology to Native Americans for State’s Historical Wrongdoings, Establishes Truth and Healing Council,” Office of Governor Gavin Newsom (June 18, 2019)
Political solidarity
Faith leaders at the Minnesota Capitol Building | St. Paul, MN | 1831 Treaty with the Sioux (Dakota)
Photo credit: Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light
“California reparations task force aims at more than dollars, seeks policies to prevent harm,” Wendy Fry | Cal Matters (Jan. 26, 2023)
“State to sow seeds of native wild rice plan with Michigan tribes,” Sheri McWhirter | MLive (Mar. 10, 2022)
“Ushering a Return to Dakota Homelands: How nonprofit Makoce Ikikcupi is forging a traditionally Dakota future in its Mni sota Makoce (Minnesota) homeland,” Justine Jones | MPLS St. Paul Magazine (Feb. 22, 2022)
“For first time, MnDOT puts up signs recognizing treaty boundaries,” Dan Kraker | MPR News (Nov. 7, 2021)
“Newsom signs bill aimed at restoring ‘land grab’ from California Indian tribes,” Frank Lopez | The Business Journal (July 13, 2021)
“LN3: 7 Teachings of the Anishinaabe Resistance,” Honor the Earth (Apr. 19, 2021)
The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development: Honoring Nations
Spiritual practices
“A Christian Call for Reparations,” Kelly Brown Douglas
“Dear White Christians,” Jennifer Harvey
“Reparations: A Pandemic Jubilee. Why debt forgiveness of biblical proportions would be a game-changer.” Dr. Tiffany Jana
“The Soil Is More Important Than The Seeds,” Ricardo Levins Morales
“Risk, Courage and Discernment: Spiritual Preparation,” Elizabeth Nguyen | Love Resists
“White Supremacy Culture Characteristics,” Tema Okun
“What Is Shmita, the Sabbatical Year?” My Jewish Learning
“Anti-racism and White Accountability,” Loyola University Maryland
What did I miss? Add your projects and what you want to see more of in the comments!
Step back and see that all these things exist at once. Street art blooms across the street from the tracks of the train Mr. Plessy boarded. Ruby was, Ruby is, her ancestors were freed, not free, White supremacy was, White supremacy is, and what comes next is all in the gravel kicked down a New Orleans train track to the Supreme Court and back, but never really very far.