From Land-Grant to #LandBack: A Story of Loss and Resilience
Land-grant universities were funded through the cession (by treaty, unratified treaty, or seizure without treaty) and subsequent sale of Native lands, which had far-reaching impacts on the 245 tribes and bands affected.
Completing the Narrative: Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe’s Policy Change Promotes Expansion of Native Agriculture Producers
By Raven McMullin Since the inception of the Native Lands Advocacy Project (NLAP), we have been committed to compiling publicly available datasets for the purpose of gaining a fuller understanding of Native American agriculture nationwide—and, more importantly, to compile a comprehensive data source for Native communities to utilize in the protection of their homelands. In […]
NLAP Welcomes Raven McMullin to the Team
The Native Lands Advocacy Project is pleased to announce Raven McMullin as our new Data Journalism Intern! Raven will be helping us contextualize the data housed on the Native Land Information System by writing timely, place-based content for our blog, storymaps, and for third party publications. She will also be helping us expand our research […]
Use of Chemicals for Croplands on Native Lands by Non-Natives Considerably More Than Use by Natives
By Evelyn Red Lodge Sicangu Lakota (Rosebud Sioux Tribe Member) Given history, it is not surprising that non-Natives collect 87% of the agricultural revenue from federally recognized Native reservation lands. What is surprising is that even though Natives operate 49.29% of cropland farms on these reservation lands, 92% of all chemicals purchased for reservation cropland operations were […]
NLAP Presents Lost Agriculture Revenue Database to Oceti Sakowin Titunwan Lakota Oyate Treaty Conference – 12/16/2021
David Bartecchi, Director of Village Earth and its Native Lands Advocacy Project (NLAP), had the honor to present the project’s Lost Agriculture Revenue Database (LARD) at the 3rd Annual Oceti Sakowin Titunwan Lakota Oyate Treaty Conference, December 14-16 in Rapid City, South Dakota. The conference was hosted in partnership with the International Indian Treaty Council […]
Key Biodiversity Areas: A Tool for Tribal Climate Planning?
By Aude K. Chesnais “At a time where climate planning becomes urgent and global attention is increasing on the ecological value of land, Native Peoples’ land stewardship practices may well gain in recognition, which could strengthen tribal sovereignty in the US” Today, Indigenous peoples manage 80% of the world’s biodiversity, yet they receive only 0.74% […]
How Much Discriminatory Lending Practices Impact Agricultural Revenue on US Native Land
By Aude K. Chesnais Introduction: Lending and Debt on US Native Land In 2018, the Keepseagle settlement shed light on widespread lending discrimination across the native agricultural landscape. Native Americans sued the US Department of Agriculture in an attempt to settle historical lending discrimination, which resulted in a 720 million dollar settlement, split between individual […]
Bison Numbers Increased an Incredible 1031% on Native Lands
Between 2012 and 2017, bison numbers have significantly increased on Native lands. What factors have contributed to this major increase, and how does this fit within the larger historical context of American bison?
Non-Natives Control Majority of Harvested Cropland on Native American Reservations
According to the most recent 2017 data from the USDA Census of Agriculture for American Indian Reservations 86.33% of harvested cropland on American Indian Reservations is operated by non-natives. In total, this amounts to 3.3 million acres of land operated by non-natives compared to only 532 thousand acres operated by Native Americans (see chart below). […]
Re-introducing the Lakota Lands Information System
The Pine Ridge Land Information System (PRLIS) is a web-based land information system designed to assist members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe to access information about their lands and resources. The PRLIS was developed Village Earth (a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit in partnership with the Oglala Sioux Tribe Land Office and made possible with support from the Indian Land Tenure Foundation.
NLIS Launches New Interactive Data Visualization of US Hazardous Liquids Spills, Pipelines, and Reservation Lands
Today, the Native Land Information System launched a new interactive data visualization of US Hazardous Liquids Spills from 2010 to 2020. The viz draws on data from the US Department Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and displays 3,398 separate spills over a 10 year period or an average of 29 spills each month! The tool […]
The General Allotment Act of 1887 Crippled Native Agriculture for Generations
Today, the US Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) holds 66 million acres of lands in trust for various Indian tribes and individuals. Approximately 46 million acres (69%) of this land is used for farming and grazing by livestock and game animals. However, Native Americans are not the primary beneficiaries of agriculture on their lands. According to the […]