Landback Victories in the first half of 2026
I keep an eye out for these stories. I want to keep track of good that’s being done to keep believing we are and can be working towards real successes in human rights, redressing historic wrongs, and promoting environmental justice.
La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council was officially handed back title to a land claim after winning a court case in Sydney, Australia.
167,400 hectares (413,000 acres) of national park land was returned to a Waanyi land organization’s control and leased back to the Australian government to continue to be operated by the Waanyi People as a park, renamed from Lawn Hill National Park to Boodjamulla National Park (Aborignal Land).
The Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California purchased back 10,274 acres of land in the Sierra Nevadas, to be established as the Wélmeltiʔ Preserve for conservation under the tribe’s land trust.
Six Nations Iroquois Cultural Center (Haudenosaunee) bought back 600 acres of land in New York with the support of the Nature Conservancy, to manage as conservation land and an Indigenous youth camp.
A chapel and grounds in Kansas City, Kansas was returned to the Kansas Delaware Tribe by the Great Plains United Methodist Conference, along with $325,000 raised to support repairs to be building.
656 acres of land was transferred by a nature conservation organization to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in California, who plan to continue operating it as conservation lands and a wildlife preserve and open space recreation.
an update to one of last year’s: Nuchatlaht First Nation won their court case and were declared the title holders to 210 square km (51,800 acres) of cedar forested land on Vancouver Island.
The Colfax-Todd Valley Consolidated Tribe had 308 acres of forest land returned in California, with financial support from and a conservation easement co-held by the Placer Land Trust.
The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa had 3,400 acres of forested land formally returned to them by the State of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota.
A church property was transferred to the Indigenous Protector Movement by Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, to be used as a new headquarters for the IPM in their work as a multi-tribal Indigenous advocacy group.
The Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania received three privately-owned land parcels through purchase, fundraising, and donation, and are restoring land previously used as an illegal dumping ground.
Boise Valley tribes (Shoshone-Paiute and Shoshone-Bannock, I think?) were deeded 3 acres of land by a private homeowner in Idaho pledging the land to be a gift back to the tribes after his death.
An Oregon Lutheran church returned its property to local tribes as a gift to the Native American Youth and Family Center which they plan to use for elderly housing for the local Native community.
Aboriginal Traditional Owners in far north Queensland, represented by the Bubu Nubuun Aboriginal Corporation, were returned 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of land to be jointly managed with the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.
These are the ones I know about. There are also updates to older Native land title stories, like Niweskok’s work towards Wabenaki food sovereignty on the land they reclaimed in the last few years, and more complex but still positive opportunities happening like the Wotjobaluk Nations signing a Land Use Activity Agreement to ensure Traditional Owner rights pf comment and input on public land use in the state of Victoria.
A lot of stuff is many places is really bad right now from a human rights, environmental justice, and ecosystem conservation perspective, but there are positive developments happening too. And as always, I encourage people (esp. in the US, Canada, Australia, and NZ/Aotearoa) to see if there’s any organization in your life or your area through which you have the ability to help, through donations of money or land or time.
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