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The Native American Tribal Land Back Movement in Washington State
Author(s)
Barbara Leigh Smith
Disciplines
Education Environmental Studies History Law Native American Studies Political Science and Public Administration
Themes
Activism Community Development Cultural Preservation Economic Development Environmental Restoration Intergovernmental Relations Land Law and Justice Leadership Self Determination and Self Governance Treaty Rights and Sovereignty
Tribes
All Tribes

The land back movement is a recent decentralized international effort on the part of Indigenous people to reestablish indigenous sovereignty and expand their land base often by regaining Tribal authority over ancestral territories tribes claim by treaty. This movement emerged and continues among Indigenous people in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico and the United States. In the United States the land back effort evolved out of many years of efforts by indigenous peoples to regain lands. This case describes the land back movement in Washington State and the various goals and forms of that effort among Washington Tribes.

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