Making Connections With Indigenous Communities

Your land trust has decided it’s important to work with the Indigenous communities in your service area, but how do you begin? Before land trusts can authentically partner with Native American tribes and nations, they must begin by acknowledging their history, cultural, and spiritual ties to their ancestral homelands as well as the nuts and bolts of tribal government. Join Ramona Peters, Chairwoman & Founder of the Native Land Conservancy and Bear Clan member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (MA) and Chuck Sams, Conservationist and Member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (OR), as they discuss what land trusts need to know to successfully connect with Indigenous communities.

Here’s a look at what we will cover:

• An overview of Native land loss and how it has impacted communities – both Native and non-Native

• Tribal government structures – who to talk with about what

• Cultural respect easements, sustainable harvesting rights, land restoration and other programs land trusts can offer Indigenous communities

• Strategies for making an authentic connection, including creating a common language and understanding