We are committed to returning land and land connection to Wabanaki people and Nations, for whom this land is kin.

We believe that land return is a crucial step in the broader work of decolonization that all communities –Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike– need in order to ensure a viable world for those who come after us.

We live and work in Wabanaki homelands–home to the Abenaki, Penobscot, Passamaquoddy (Sipayak and Motahkomikuk) , Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet), and Mi’kmaq people for more than 400 generations. European settler-colonizers violently appropriated most of this land amidst ongoing acts of attempted genocide over the course of five centuries. Yet Wabanaki people never left: all five nations still hold small portions of their traditional homelands in the form of reservations, and amidst immense colonial efforts to assimilate and erase them, Wabanaki Nations continue to protect and pass on traditional knowledge, safeguard collective identities and worldviews, and work tirelessly to protect and defend their traditional homelands.

Returning land to Wabanaki care is to recognize and affirm Indigenous leadership in an unbroken, 12,000 year history of reciprocal land relationship that we all need to learn from and build upon.

We understand land return broadly as the permanent restoration of sovereign Wabanaki relationships with the land and waters of Wabanakik, through means that are developed and implemented in accountable relationships with Wabanaki Nations and organizations.

Pathways to Land Return What does land return look like for Land in Common?

  • Direct return of land, with ongoing support for Wabanaki land care. To date, we have returned 185 acres to Wabanaki holdership through Bomazeen Land Trust, with another land return currently in the works. Our commitment is to return land while continuing to cover the cost of property taxes and carry out ongoing land care responsibilities as requested by Wabanaki land stewards. With all potential new land projects, we prioritize offering this land to Wabanaki holdership through the Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship, Bomazeen Land Trust, or other Wabanaki land care organizations.

  • Wabanaki co-stewardship and access. We’re committed to ensuring that the land we hold is cared for in close consultation with Wabanaki knowledge holders and is open and accessible for ongoing relationship with Wabanaki people.

  • Funding for land reconnection. In the current reality, land return comes with expenses, and communities need support in order to be able to access the land and rebuild reciprocal relationships. For this reason, we’re committed to ongoing land payments that support Wabanaki rematriation. This takes two forms:

    Annual “Corn” Payments to Bomazeen Land Trust. We’ve developed a calculation for annual land payments based on our reading of the terms of the 1678 Treaty of Casco, where Wabanaki diplomats proposed a sliding-scale tribute payment for settlers inhabiting their homelands. You can read the details here.

    Support for the Wolankeyutomone kisi apaciyewik Fund. We’ve been working with the Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship, as part of a group of non-Wabanaki conservation and foundation leaders connected with First Light, to support the development of a new intertribal fund that will support ongoing land reconnection for tribal members across Wabanakik. This fund, seeded with a $1.7 million “solidarity deposit” from Maine conservation organizations, Maine foundations, national foundations, and individual donors, is called Wolankeyutomone kisi apaciyewik –“let us take good care of what has been returned” in the Passamaquoddy language (learn to say it here!)– and will be growing and developing in exciting ways over the coming years.

     

  • Development & use of sovereignty-centered deed restrictions. We’ve worked with members of Bomazeen Land Trust and a number of legal experts to develop model deed restrictions that can provide assurance to land donors while also remaining flexible for future stewards and centering Wabanaki sovereignty. Most importantly, these restrictions assure that the land has clear transfer pathways to Wabanaki holdership in the event of any future change of ownership. We’ll post more about this soon!

  • Education & organizing with First Light. We are active members of the First Light community and movement, working to center the return of land, wealth, and sovereignty to Wabanaki nations in all conservation work. We participate as a member of the Conservation Community Delegation to the Wabanaki Commission on Land & Stewardship, as part of the planning team for the Confluence Learning Journey, and as a catalyst for the Wolankeyutomone kisi apaciyewik Fund Solidarity Working Group.

  • Support for landowners exploring return. When settler-descended landowners are exploring options for land return, it’s often important for them to do significant learning and preparation work before making specific requests of Wabanaki Nations or organizations. We’re happy to support landowners in this work, and to help make connections when appropriate.

Watch this discussion about land return work in Wabanakik, featuring Bomazeen Land Trust, Land in Common, the Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship, and First Light.