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The Sogorea Te Land Trust

The Sogorea Te Land Trust

An urban Indigenous women-led land trust that facilitates the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous people

  • About
    • Purpose and Vision
    • Our History
    • Staff & Board
    • Partnerships & Alliances
    • Contact Us
  • Lisjan (Ohlone)
    • Lisjan History & Territory
    • Mak Noono Tiirinikma
  • Initiatives
    • Cultural Revitalization
    • Himmetka: In One Place, Together
    • Mitiini Numma Youth Program
  • Rematriation
    • Land in Rematriation
      • Lisjan
      • ‘Ookwe
      • Rinihmu Pulte’irekne (Sequoia Point)
      • Rammay
      • ‘Ištune
    • Return Land / Land Return
    • Rematriate the Land Fund
  • Media
    • Updates
    • Resource Library
    • Creative Collaborations
      • Hella Feminist
      • On Indigenous Land Field
      • Rematriate the Land Billboard
      • RETURNS: Participatory Rematriation
      • STLT x Jackie Fawn
      • Tule in the Sky
  • Engage
    • Make a Request
    • Donate
    • Get E-mail Updates
    • Other Ways to Engage
      • Land Acknowledgements
  • Pay Shuumi
    • Shuumi Land Tax
    • Institutional Shuumi Land Tax
    • Shuumi Land Tax FAQs
    • Testimonials

Return Land / Land Return

 We are founded on stolen land and Indigenous people are still here.  

If you have access to land and wealth, consider your place in the lineage of this theft and how you might contribute to its healing, how you might reimagine your relationship to the land you are on.  

From creating a cultural easement for gathering rights, offering access to a space or writing us into your will or nonprofits dissolution documents,  we are dreaming with our supporters to build many paths of radical reciprocity that are a part of rematriation and land return. 

“As long time racial justice activists, we are choosing not to perpetuate the unearned privilege of passing on our home within our White families…”

From A LETTER about the intention to will a home to Sogorea Te’ Land Trust.

Creative collaborations with our allies have opened up gardens to grow our food in, neighborhood projects have cultivated plants for us to make medicine with, and allies have opened their access to privatized land  allowing us to create Lisjan and build ceremonial spaces including the first Ohlone arbor in territory for more than 200 years.  But we still dont “own” land we can live on.

If you have more than you need, consider how you can shift resources towards returning land to Indigenous people.

Rematriate the Land Fund

Vick and Bernadette at Quail Creek

Rematriation Resources

Resource Guide

All land carries Indigenous knowledges and stories, and is home to Indigenous peoples. What can we do to honor this? This Resource Guide offers a variety of questions, prompts and ideas for how to engage this history a variety of questions, prompts and ideas for how to engage the history and reality of the land we are on.

Recommended Readings

Check out our in progress Recommended Reading List.

Read one of these pieces and talk to someone about it!

Start a study group with your family, friends, collective, business, coop, nonprofit. Go on walk and talks with your neighbors, organize your  community, penpal with your grandma. Talk about the land you are on and how you got here. How has your family benefitted or been impacted by legacies of colonization?  What does it mean to you to be on stolen land?   What does it mean to recognize this history? How can allies we go beyond acknowledgement? How can we rematriate?  Learn about how other communities are healing the history of the land our relationships to it. 

Questions About Home for Reflection

These are Questions About Home is an for exercise is for non-native people to learn and reflect on the history and current struggles of Indigenous people, and to begin thinking about our role in colonization and decolonization. By Qwul’sih’yah’maht, Robina Thomas (Lyackson of the Coast Salish Nation) with input from our founders Corrina Gould (Chochenyo and Johnella LaRose (Shoshone-Bannock), Nick Tilsen (Oglala-Lakota), Annie Morgan Banks and Chanelle Gallant.

Tips for Difficult Conversations

Check out these tips for talking about Settle Colonialism and other difficult conversations from Showing Up for Racial Justice Albuquerque.

Resource Guide for Indigenous Solidarity Funding Projects

This is a Resource Guide for Indigenous Solidarity Funding Projects compiled by the Indigenous Solidarity Network and representatives from Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, Real Rent Duwamish, and the Manna-hatta Fund.

Resource-Guide-for-Indigenous-Solidarity-Funding-Projects-with-linksDownload
Maps

Understand your relation to the land on which you live, work, and stand.

Native Land Map
East Bay Native Peoples Map
Bay Area Native Languages
Bay Area Tribes
Maps by East Bay Regional Park District

Black and Indigenous Reparations

Reparations Map for Black and Indigenous farmers and land projects from SoulFire Farm.


Land Returns and Rematriation Examples

Passamaquoddy Tribe, Maine (2021)

Passamaquoddy tribe reacquires island stolen more than 150 years ago

Press Herald, May 17th

Lower Sioux Indian Community To Get Ancestral Land Back (2021)

Lower Sioux Indian Community To Get Ancestral Land Back From Minnesota, MN Historical Society

CBS4 Local News Minnesota, February 4th

Lower Sioux Indian Community lands to be returned from the state, MHS

Redwood Falls Gazette, February 11th

Churches Return Land to Indigenous Groups (2020)

Churches Return Land to Indigenous Groups

Religious News Wire, December

Yale Union Art Center in Portland, OR (2020)

YALE UNION ART CENTER CEDES PROPERTY RIGHTS TO NATIVE ARTS AND CULTURES FOUNDATION
Artform, July

Penobscot Nation, Maine (2020)

More than 700 Acres of Ancestral Land Returned to Penobscot Nation

Press Herald, October

Esselen Tribe Land Return, Big Sur CA (2020)

Northern California Esselen tribe regains ancestral land after 250 years
The Guardian, July

Alma de Mujer outside Austin, Texas (2019)

Alma de Mujer Center for Social Change

Woman gives money from farm land sale back to tribe who once hunted there (2019, Kansas)
The Wichitah Eagle, February

Ute Indian Tribe, Colorado (2018)

Colorado Land Returned to the Ute Indian Tribe
Ute Indian Tribe Political Action Committee, October 30th

Ponca Land Return, Nebraska (2018)

In Historic First, Nebraska Farmer Returns Land to Ponca Tribe Along “Trail of Tears
Bold Nebraska, June

Sierra stewards listen to the trees, and a California tribe regains an ancestral land
The Sacramento Bee, June

Tuluwat returned to Wiyot Tribe in Eureka, California (2018)

Tuluwat Project
Wiyot.Us

The Coming Home Song: Wiyot People Joyous as Eureka City Council Takes Another Step Towards Returning Indian Island
Redheaded Blackbelt, December

The Wiyot Tribe’s Long Path to Renewing Indian Island
KHSU Diverse Public Radio, August

Richardson Ranch in Sonoma, CA (2017)

How This Tribe Got Their Coastal California Lands Returned
Yes Magazine, April

Sonoma Coast’s Stewarts Point becomes part of historic agreement for coastal ranch
The Press Democrat, February

Professor gives $250K to Ute Indian Tribe to compensate for great-grandparents profiting off tribal land sales
The Salt Lake Tribune, September

Return of the Sinkyone- Land & People

Return of the Sinkyone—Land&People
The Trust for Public Land, 1998

The InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness: Ten Tribes Reclaiming, Stewarding, and Restoring Ancestral Lands By Hawk Rosales
Wild.org

International

South Africa Confronts a Legacy of Apartheid
The Atlantic, May 2019

New Zealand to pay colonial compensation
Al Jazeera, May 2013

Australia Aboriginals win right to sue for colonial land loss
Al Jazeera, March 2014

Please contact us for more information

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The Shuumi Land Tax is a voluntary annual contribution that non-Indigenous people living on traditional Lisjan Ohlone territory make to support the critical work of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust.

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Sogorea Te Land Trust
“It’s going to take a lot to heal but I think “It’s going to take a lot to heal but I think we’re at the beginning. people want to do something different, were finding the power to move in different ways...”

— Sogorea Te Land Trust cofounder Corrina Gould

From @culturalconservancy’s Native Seed Pod interview with Melissa Nelson.

Art from our geomorphic visualization of rematraited land with Maise Richards. 

Both available in our resource library. link in bio. 

Images are 1. Rematriated landscape with a stream passing through  green trees, native plants, and grasses with long roots extending into a sandy base. There is a fading freeway in the background. one slide has the above quote in sandy colored letters and the second has the words Rematraite the Land. 

#rematriatetheland #resourcelibrary #listenup #sogoreatelandtrust #urbanindigenous #womenled #rematraition #landback #landreturn #returntoland
❤️Himmetka ❤️ Throwback to the shipping ❤️Himmetka ❤️ 

Throwback to the shipping container for our first Himmetka arriving on a pink tractor trailer truck, January 2019, Lisjan. 

Named with the Chochenyo word for “in one place, together,” our Lisjan Himmetka includes a ceremonial space, food and medicine gardens, water catchment, filtration, and storage, first-aid supplies, tools, and a seed saving library.

Images are 1. A red shipping container being unloaded from a pink tractor trailer truck with logs in the foreground and a blue sky in the background. 2. Front view of the container covered in art with a sign that reads Himmetka, everything together in one place. 

#tbt #himmetka #sogoreatelandtrust #iniatives #urbanindivenous #womenled #lrematriation
The land formerly known as Sequoia Point has been The land formerly known as Sequoia Point has been renamed Rinihmu Pulte’irekne!

The Chochenyo name, meaning “Above the Red Ochre,” was given by @villages_of_lisjan language carrier Deja Gould. 

The name honors the location and connection to red ochre, once abundant in the East Bay hills.  Ochre holds cultural significance for Ohlone people and many Indigenous people of the world. It was among the natural materials extracted and exploited in the settling of California. 

Welcome back Rinihmu Pulte’irekne. 

Music: Landback @rebelwisemusic 
Drone video: Alfred @threesistersgardens 

Video is a peek of the view from the Oakland hills through tree branches fading into an aerial video of the land, panning out to the city and bay from an eagles eye view with text announcing the land formerly known as Sequoia Point has been renamed Rinihmu Pulte’Irekne. 

#rematraitetheland #sequoiapoint #RinihmuPulte’irekne #sogoreatelandtrust #urbanindigenous #womenled #landtrust #landback #landreturn #rematriation
Welcoming youth back as we continue our Indigenous Welcoming youth back as we continue our Indigenous led youth program, Mitiini Numma wave one! We are so excited to be back with you all and hope you had an amazing winter break ❄️. On our first day back we got to learn about and from each other during a yarn toss game 🧶, highlighting who we are, how we got to the land we are on, and sharing our relations. Looking forward to a spring full of fun activities, rematriated site visits, exciting field trips, amazing wisdom keepers, creative workshops, and more! 🤎

Image: Youth and facilitators gathered in a circle in our youth program space, each holding a piece of yarn connected to all of them, during a game of yarn toss. 

#MitiiniNumma #backinprogram #growthetruth #youthleaders #youthprogram #Indigenousled #oaklandyouth #rematriatetheland
This is what Indigenous women and two spirit land This is what Indigenous women and two spirit land rematriation looks like! 

Throwback to the official signing of the cultural easement returning the land formerly known as Sequoia Point to Indigenous care, December 13, 2022. 

Image is five Indigenous women and two spirit people of various ages wearing long skirts and dresses, standing in a line, looking out past the viewer. In the background is glimpse of an image of a ceremonial structure. 

#squadgoals #thecrew #matriarchylives #indigenouswomenled #sogoreatelandtrust #culturaleasement #itsofficial  #landreturn #landback #rematriation #Oakland #indigenousland
Lisjan: Rematriated Indigenous Land Ask Permissi Lisjan: Rematriated Indigenous Land 

Ask Permission 
Walk With Honor 
Respect The Sacred 

*No Photos * No Substances*

Image is a turquoise sign at the entrance of Lisjan with the above text in red and black letters with the Sogore Te' Land Trust logo- a silhouette of the Oakland skyline above an Ohlone basket- in front of an abundance of thriving green plants. 

#Lisjan #guidelines #comecorrect #askpermission  #sogoreatelandtrust #rematriatetheland
Winter Work ⛈️ Seasonal planning with the c Winter Work ⛈️ 

Seasonal  planning with the crew. 

Custom Ohlone Territory Hoody 
hand printed at a staff meet, 
By @creative_mudafukah 

Image is a figure in an orange Ohlone territory hoody, adding a post it to a large sheet of paper full of multicolored notes. 

#projectprocess #planning #sogoreatelandtrust #urban #Indigenous #womenled #landreturn
New year, new opportunity to Rematriate the Land. New year, new opportunity to Rematriate the Land. 

Hit us up. 

Image: a stack of stickers with a turquoise to pink gradient behind a silloutte of Oakland, with birds flying and the words Rematriate the Land, Sogorea Te Land Trust.

#2023 #landback #landreturn #unsettletheland #rematriatetheland #sogoreatelandtrust
🎄Land Back 🌲 If you have more that you nee 🎄Land Back 🌲 

If you have more that you need consider redistributing to Indigenous led work wherever you are. 

#landback #thatsthespirit #rematriatetheland #urbanindigenous #seasonsgreetings #sogoreatelandtrust #spotted #oaklandgraffiti #indigenousland
✨Rest ✨Reflection ✨Renewal ✨ Returning to ✨Rest ✨Reflection ✨Renewal ✨

Returning to balance with the seasons. ⚖️ Every year on Solstice we close for our Winter hibernation. This is a time separate from vacation for our crew to rest, reflect and recharge for the new year. 

Sending solstice wishes for winter wellness to all. 

Image is an Indigenous woman standing on the edge of a piece of green grassy land  high up in the Oakland hills hills looking out at the view of  dark winter clouds and green trees opening to  vista of the distant city and Bay. 

#solstice  #winter #hibernation #sogoreatelandtrust #urbanindigenous #womenled #returntobalance #rest #reflection #regeneration  #rematriaton  #territoryofhuchiun
Sogorea Te’ Land Trust Team wants to thank all o Sogorea Te’ Land Trust Team wants to thank all of our community members and allies who have volunteered & supported us throughout the past year. We are because of you all and we are immensely grateful for the continued support we have received. 

We look forward to connecting with folks in the new year! In the meantime, feel welcome to fill out our volunteer form to receive notification emails: https://tinyurl.com/STLTVolunteer. You can also find other ways to stay engaged by visiting our website: https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/other-ways-to-engage/ 

Alt Description 1:

The background is a transparent picture of some yellow and multi-colored corn. In the middle of the post, you find another yellow transparent box with a solid dark white box in front of it that says: “As Sogorea Te' Land Trust wraps up another incredible year, we want to say thank you to all our community members and volunteers who have supported us throughout these past twelve months. The work we do is possible because of the on-going support we receive from our community who believe in us and share the same goal as we do. Kiš horše ‘ek-hinnan (Thank you so much)”. At the bottom two corners of the white box, you find three vertical hearts. 

Alt Description 2:

The background is a transparent picture of some yellow and multi-colored corn. In the middle of the post, you find another yellow transparent box with a solid dark white box in front of it that says: “Our office has closed volunteer days and they will be reopening mid-January. We will be back with more volunteer opportunities in the new year so keep a lookout! In the meantime, feel welcome to fill out our volunteer form to receive notification emails: https://tinyurl.com/STLTVolunteer. You can also find other ways to stay engaged by visiting our website: https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/other-ways-to-engage/
🌿 Respect my Medicine 🌿 Block printing wit 🌿 Respect my Medicine 🌿 

Block printing with the crew for the end of the year. 
Art by vick @creative_mudafukah 

#respect #native #medicine #sogoreatelandtrust #blockprint #art
✨💛Rematriate the Land 💛✨ #customeveryth ✨💛Rematriate the Land 💛✨

#customeverything #lisjan #thepony #sogoreatelandtrust #urbanindigenous #womenled #landreturn #landback #rematriation
Big Valley Dancers ✨ Closing of the Rinihmu Pul Big Valley Dancers ✨

Closing of the Rinihmu Pulte'irekne land return celebration. 
December 13th, 2022

📷 @hulleah 

#sogoreatelandtrust #sequoiapiont #landreturn #landback #rematriation #celebration
Celebrating the Return of Rinihmu Pulte'irekne✨ Celebrating the Return of Rinihmu Pulte'irekne✨

December 13th, 2022

📷 Jean Melesaine 
@bayarealife 

#sogoreatelandtrust #sequoiapiont #landreturn #landback #rematriation #celebration
Round Valley Dancers✨ Opening of the Rinihmu Pu Round Valley Dancers✨

Opening of the Rinihmu Pulte'irekne land return celebration
December 13th, 2022

📷 @ines_ixierda 

#sogoreatelandtrust #sequoiapiont #landreturn #landback #rematriation #celebration
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