Indigenous Solidarity

Community land trusts can change the way we relate to land. They can also facilitate the return of land to Indigenous communities.

This page is intended to:

acknowledge Turtle Island as the ancestral homelands of many Indigenous nations
bring awareness to the potential of land back through community land trusts, and
suggests practices for community land trusts to support Indigenous sovereignty over land

Land Recognition

The Canadian Network of Community Land Trusts and its members operate on the ancestral territories of Indigenous people across Turtle Island (also known as North America).

Settler colonialism dispossessed Indigenous people of the lands they stewarded since time immemorial. Operating within this reality, it is imperative that the Network and its members support Indigenous self-determination and restitution of Land through tangible actions.

In this spirit, CNCLT is committed to:

Supporting the development and growth of Indigenous-led community land trusts
Building relationships with Indigenous people, communities, and organizations
Disseminating best practices regarding reconciliation, decolonization, and Land Back via the community land trust model, and
Creating and sharing tools to support non-Indigenous community land trusts in reconciliation and decolonization efforts

We call on our members to:

Build relationships with local Indigenous people, communities, and organizations,
Identify whose ancestral territories there are on and uphold their role within treaties, and
Support Indigenous-led community land trusts develop and grow by sharing knowledge and resources

Indigenous Land Trusts

Indigenous land trusts are invested in the return and responsible stewardship of ancestral lands, which in turn can support cultural revitalization and community well-being.

Some organizations focus on the protection of natural lands from development. Others aim to provide access to housing and space for ceremony and cultural practice.

List of Organizations (non-exhaustive)

Sogorea Te’ Land Trust (California)
Dishgamu Humboldt Land Trust (California)
Lahaina Community Land Trust (Hawaii)
Aboriginal Land Trust Society (BC)
All Our Relations Land Trust (Kingston, ON)
Calgary Urban Indigenous Community Land Trust
Temiskaming District Community Land Trust (Northern Ontario)
Toronto Indigenous Community Land Trust
Mno Aki Land Trust (Canada)
Bomazeen Land Trust (Maine)
W̱SÁNEĆ Lands Trust (BC)
XAXE TEṈEW̱ Sacred Land Society (Vancouver Island)
Walpole Island land Trust (Ontario)

Land Return Through Land Trusts

More and more, individuals and organizations returning land to Indigenous land trusts.

City gives land through easements to Sogorea Te’ Land Trust

More Practices to Support Indigenous Land Stewardship

Below are just a few ways you can support through your CLT:

Learn whose ancestral lands you are on and about any treaties (see whose land or native-land), then complete the reflection exercise Questions about “Home”
Read and discuss: Land Rematriation Guide: Returning Indigenous Lands to Indigenous Hands
Support Indigenous land trusts by offering resources, expertise, and time
If your CLT dissolved, your bylaws can stipulate that your assets will be transferred to Indigenous nations or organizations.
Pay voluntary land taxes if they exist in your area, or support the creation of them
Convey lands to Indigenous organizations (see First Light as a model)

Land Recognition

Indigenous Land Trusts

List of Organizations (non-exhaustive)

Land Return Through Land Trusts

Return from Individuals

Return from CLTs and other land-holding organizations

Return from Government

More Practices to Support Indigenous Land Stewardship

Land Recognition

Indigenous Land Trusts

List of Organizations (non-exhaustive)

Land Return Through Land Trusts

Return from Individuals

Return from CLTs and other land-holding organizations

Return from Government

More Practices to Support Indigenous Land Stewardship

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