As we dream of and work towards land return and rematriation in one of the most expensive “real estate” markets in the country, we are happy to announce the launch of our Rematriate the Land Fund.
The Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, the first urban Indigenous women led land trust in the country, is working to rematriate the land in Lisjan territory. Sogorea Te’s programs and initiatives are reclaiming stolen land, growing medicine gardens, building Himmetkas (emergency response hubs), distributing fresh food to elders, and revitalizing Indigenous languages, cultures and practices in the East Bay Area. With the support of our community, Sogorea Te’ has been able to build the first Ohlone ceremonial arbor in Lisjan territory in more than 250 years and is creating new pathways to connect to land.
The Rematriate the Land Fund is dedicated to creating an alternative land base for urban Indigenous people, to support reconnecting to land, to gather, to have ceremony, and to heal. The Fund will be allocated to cover the many costs related to the acquisition and rematriation of land including purchases, permits, impact studies, assessments, and legal fees. Our goal is to raise $100 million to support rematriation initiatives on Lisjan Ohlone land.
The Bay Area is home to a diverse diaspora of Indigenous people. While Lisjan Ohlone women are central to our vision and leadership, the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust is an intertribal Indigenous women-led land trust. We work to restore reciprocal relationships with the sacred land we live on, and with the plants, animals and other human beings who we share this land with. Sogorea Te’ creates opportunities for all people living in Lisjan Ohlone territory to work together to re-envision the Bay Area community and what it means to live on Ohlone land.
“We are homeless in our own homeland.”
Traditional Spokesperson for the Confederated Villages of Lisjan Corrina Gould
The Sogorea Te’ Land Trust works predominantly within the territories of Lisjan Ohlone, which includes 5 Bay Area counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, Solano and San Joaquin, close to 3 million acres of land. Right now, Lisjan tribal members and the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust protects less than 0.0001% of this land base.
As we begin to heal and transform the legacies of colonization, genocide, and patriarchy and to do the work our ancestors and future generations are calling us to do, we invite those who have benefitted from stolen land and settler-colonialism to contribute to our vision of rematriation, to help us build Indigenous Sovereignty, and support our movement to rematriate the land.
