Indigenous Governance Database
ancestral lands
Global impacts of extractive and industrial development projects on Indigenous Peoples’ lifeways, lands, and rights
To what extent do extractive and industrial development pressures affect Indigenous Peoples’ lifeways, lands, and rights globally? We analyze 3081 environmental conflicts over development projects to quantify Indigenous Peoples’ exposure to 11 reported social-environmental impacts jeopardizing the…
Considerations for Federal and State Landback
This policy brief showcases how geographic information system (GIS) techniques can be used to identify public and/or protected land in relation to current and historic reservation boundaries, and presents maps showcasing the scope of landback opportunities. These lands include federal- or state-…
Indigenous Data Sovereignty: How Researchers can Empower Data Governance with Lydia Jennings
Indigenous land management practices result in higher species richness, less deforestation, and land degradation than non-Indigenous strategies. Many environmental researchers, data repositories, and data service operations recognize the importance of collaborating with Indigenous nations,…
The Role of Tribes and Tribal Relations in Creating a More Vibrant Arizona (Chapter in The 113th Arizona Town Hall's "Creating Vibrant Communities")
Arizona’s rich history begins with its Native inhabitants. Since time immemorial, Native Peoples built their own vibrant communities in the region’s river valleys, high deserts, mountains, and forests. Western archeologists affirm this long occupancy; they document ancestral Puebloan, Sinagua,…
Indigenous Peoples and COVID-19: Issues of Law and Justice – Canada
A co-production of New Zealand's Victoria University of Wellington and the Aotearoa New Zealand Centre for Indigenous Peoples and the Law, the "Indigenous Peoples and COVID-19: Issues of Law and Justice" is a series of conversations focused on the experiences of Indigenous Peoples with COVID-19,…
NCAI Forum: Protecting Tribal Lands and Sacred Places: Current Threats Across Indian Country
The latest in NCAI’s ongoing series of virtual events featuring tribal leaders, this forum shares the stories of five tribal nations working to protect their tribal homelands in the face of baseless attacks by the federal government, and discussed how the federal government must recommit to its…
The Rise of the First Nations Land Management Regime in Canada: A Critical Analysis
Federal Budget 2018 contains significant investments in the First Nations Land Management regime, including $143.5 million over five years beginning in 2018-19, and $19 million per year ongoing. In December 2018, the First Nations Land Management Act was amended, lowering the voting threshold for…
Vernon Masayesva: Self-Governance and Protecting Water
Former Tribal Chairman of the Hopi Nation and Executive Director of Black Mesa Trust, Vernon Masayesva relays his thoughts about advocating for self-governance and protection of water rights for Indigenous people. His pursuits in holding accountability of mining in Hopi territory has made Vernon…
Vernon Masayesva Keynote: Water Ethics Symposium
Vernon Masayesva (Hopi) is the Executive Director of Black Mesa Trust and leading advocate for protecting water resources for the Hopi Nation. He's a Hopi Leader of the Coyote Clan and former Chairman of the Hopi Tribal Council from the village of Hotevilla who has worked for decades on bringing…
Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Land Title and Records Office
With the ultimate goal of seeing a time when Native people and nations once again own and manage the land within the boundaries of every reservation as well as those lands that are culturally important to them beyond reservations, the Tribal Land Title and Records Office keeps all records and…
California Fee-to-Trust Consortium
The loss of traditional land is a source of longstanding trauma for Native nations. It has far reaching consequences that began at the time of dispossession and persist today. Many tribes struggle to regain territory in order to support the basic needs of their citizens – housing, economic…
Ak-Chin Community Council Task Force
Over the past few years, the citizens of the Ak-Chin Indian Community, located south of Phoenix, Arizona, have witnessed the land surrounding their reservation rapidly transform from fields into housing subdivisions. Worried about the impact on the reservation, the Ak-Chin Indian Community…
People Belong to the Land; Land Doesn't Belong to the People
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) does not recognize the right of indigenous nations to own land outside the laws and rules of national governments. According to international historical doctrines of discovery, Indigenous Peoples, non-Christian nations,…
Traditional Governance: A Case Study of the Osoyoos Indian Band and Application of Okanagan Leadership Principles
There are traditional Okanagan governance and leadership principles and guidelines that have been informed through language terms and traditional stories. These have been interpreted and taught to us by our elders of the Okanagan Nation. Five principles of traditional Okanagan leadership will be…
Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Agroforestry
Communities around the world have practiced diverse and evolving forms of agroforestry for centuries. While both Indigenous and non-Indigenous practitioners have developed agroforestry practices of great value, in this publication, we focus on the role of Indigenous, traditional ecological…
Best Practices Case Study (Territorial Integrity): Haida Nation
Haida Gwaii (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands) is an archipelago on the coast of B.C. Haida Gwaii is the pristine home to some of the world's best remaining stands of cedar, hemlock and Sitka spruce. In 1974, controversy began over logging permits being issued in Haida Gwaii. Haida…