LANDBACK: Return Stewardship Of The Indigenous Community

LANDBACK, also known as #LANDBACK, is a term used to describe a campaign driven by Indigenous communities and allies of the movement who seek to reestablish Indigenous sovereignty across North America and other regions worldwide by addressing historical injustices to Indigenous peoples and reclaiming ancestral lands. LANDBACK stands for the reclamation of control over lands which have belonged to Indigenous peoples, lands that are currently occupied and reigned over illegally. Along with the reclamation of lands dispossessed through colonisation, LANDBACK aims to return stewardship of lands to Indigenous communities, reinvigorate Indigenous practices and culture, provide Indigenous leadership in environmental implementations, educate societies

Recognising the historical background of LANDBACK is very important in order to fully understand its meaning and motives, especially in Canada. The beginning of legal land dispossession can be conceptualised through two distinct documents: the Indian Act of 1876 and the Royal Proclamation of 1763. Created after the Seven Years war, the Royal Proclamation forbade European settlers from the general claiming of Indigenous lands in North America. However, the claiming of Indigenous lands was permissible if Indigenous peoples were to sign a treaty with the Crown. This aspect of the law was abused, with Indigenous peoples being persuaded into signing treaties even if they weren’t in their own languages. Soon after colonisation began to increase, the Crown wanted more control over the lands of North America. The Indian Act of 1876 was introduced, with the intention of the abolishment of all cultural practices and the distinctiveness of the Indigenous peoples. This act forbade all Indigenous communities across Canada from expressing themselves through traditional practices and ways of governance, including the ban of First Nations from ownership of land. Essentially, Indigenous peoples were unknowingly stripped of their land titles and forbidden from fighting to get them