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What Else Can I Do?

Beyond Land Acknowledgement: an Action Guide

Indigenous Land Acknowledgment is an effort to recognize the Indigenous past and present of a particular location and to understand our own place within that relationship. Usually, land acknowledgments take the form of written and/or verbal statements. Instead of spending time on a land acknowledgment statement, however, we recommend creating an action plan highlighting the concrete steps you plan to take to support Indigenous communities into the future. To go beyond land acknowledgments and move toward reparative action, check out this guide created by the Native Governance Center!

Join the Decolonial Repair Network

The Decolonial Repair Network (DRN) is a community of people connected to HNLF who recognize that colonization has harmed us all – both Native and non-Native alike – and who are actively working to restore relationships with Indigenous communities, the land, ourselves and each other. 

Support the return of human remains and sacred objects

Call on museums to return human remains and sacred items stolen from Native peoples. Though the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) requires any institution that has received federal funding to do so, thousands of items have yet to be returned to Native communities.

Support Indigenous-led environmental work

Protect the integrity of the land by opposing projects that pollute soil, air, or water. Support local Indigenous efforts to protect land and water, and get involved with national organizations like the Indigenous Environmental Network and Honor the Earth.

Support Movements to Stop the Epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIWR)

Across the United States and Canada, Indigenous women and girls, as well as other relatives, are being taken or murdered at an unrelenting rate. The situation is made worse in areas where pipeline projects or other extractive industries are active.

Know your family’s history

How did your family end up in the US? If your ancestors are from a colonizing country, what was your family’s connection to land, spiritual traditions, economies, etc. before that country began colonizing other places? Does your family own land in the US? If so, how did they come to acquire it?

Start an Indigenous Solidarity Fund where you live

Check out this Resource Guide for Indigenous Solidarity Funding Projects, compiled by the Indigenous Solidarity Network and representatives from the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust / Shuumi Land Tax, Real Rent Duwamish, and the Manna-hatta Fund.

The most important thing to consider before starting a voluntary land tax program in your area is consent from the Native nations or organizations to whom you intend to donate the tax proceeds.