Watchlist: ‘Why Native Americans are buying back land that was stolen from them’

By Kamiah Koch

Social Media/Digital Journalist

PBS NewsHour introduced the popular slogan “land back” in a broadcast published to YouTube on Oct. 16, 2021. The slogan regards the growing movement of returning stolen land to Native American Tribes.

The eight-minute video features the Yurok Tribe located in northern California. The Tribe received media attention for purchasing more than 70,000 acres of its original territory over the last decade.

Frankie Myers, vice chair of Yurok Tribe, is interviewed and explains the benefits of regaining the land for his people.

“I think one of the hugest benefits is having our children be able to go to their traditional hunting grounds,” Myers says. “I can openly raise my children to come out, to harvest, to practice.”

The retrieval of this land was not cheap. The Tribe took out a $21 million loan and is still working on paying it off. The video reports they are able to use carbon offset grants -- companies who exceed their California carbon dioxide cap pay the Tribe for the metric tons of carbon dioxide its forest absorbs -- and timber profits from the reclaimed land.

Although this helps Native people live off their homelands, some criticize the morality of allowing companies to continue to pollute.

“I had questions about the morality of carbon offset,” Myers says. “I question whether or not it was really going to make an impact. We think the good outweighs the negative and work diligently to make sure our partners are truly making a difference.”

Another critique is rooted in the fact that Tribes are going into debt to pay for land that was stolen from them through treaties and an 1887 Allotment Act.

“My Elders, the people who came before me. ‘Get your land back.’ Whether it’s right doesn’t matter,” Myers concludes.

You can watch this video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjSNL40GDO8