Note: The Center for Ethical Land Transition is grateful to be practitioners and students of the land justice movement. We extend gratitude to the many people we know and more whom we don’t know who are doing this work and have contributed to the understandings expressed in this essay. We apologize if the manner in which we have expressed these ideas or the ideas themselves cause any unintended harm, and are very open to feedback. As we continue to learn, our ability to understand and communicate will improve. Thank you for being with us on this journey.

*Additional Note: Throughout this article, the pronouns “we” and ”us” are used to refer at certain times to the team at the Center for Ethical Land Transition as well as in reference to humanity as a whole. This is not intended to speak for others, but rather to call in a conversation around our collective humanity and our relationship with the planet. 

Land is at the root of all things beautiful and painful. Land holds the stories of thousands of years of territorial wars and colonization, and Land holds the stories of our deepest sense of security and belonging. At the foundation of our healing and liberation is Land.

And yet when we turn toward the Land beneath us and offer care and tending for this vital relationship between ourselves and the Earth, we face intensely painful realities.

And yet when we turn toward the Land beneath us and offer care and tending for this vital relationship between ourselves and the Earth, we face intensely painful realities. Those of us in the U.S. live in a landscape of injustice and atrocities – a legacy of violence and dispossession stemming from colonization and human enslavement. This legacy includes the ongoing impacts of violent displacement from homelands and the forced labor of stolen people on stolen land—foundations upon which immense wealth was built.

The framers of the U.S. Constitution asserted that liberty depended on property rights, yet they built a legal system rooted in property theft, legitimized by the Doctrine of Discovery. This 15th-century Catholic decree provided a “finders-keepers” and “might-makes-right” justification for colonial expansion and dispossession of Indigenous lands. 

As recently as 2005, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg referenced this doctrine in the case City of Sherrill, New York v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York, stating that under the Doctrine of Discovery, … “fee title to the lands occupied by Indians when the colonists arrived became vested in the sovereign–first the discovering European nation and later the original States and the United States.” 

This is the unethical foundation of the legal system that continues to affect people in the United States today. The present-day racial wealth gap is a direct result of this history. According to the USDA, approximately 98% of rural land in the U. S. is owned by white people. The historical patterns that have systematically marginalized People of Color and outright denied them access to property and opportunities for wealth accumulation are well documented.

For some, the legal system operates effectively and fulfills its design. However, for many others, it is unjust and unacceptable, with reprehensible root causes that perpetuate the harms of the past into present-day realities which we must repair and heal.

Everyone is affected by this history and the current legal framework of Land. In the U.S., many are descendants of people who committed atrocities against others in the name of religion and righteousness, and many are descendants of those who suffered violence to the extent that their cultures nearly faced complete erasure. Both the roles of perpetrator and victim are intertwined in our human legacy. Additionally, forced migration and survival-driven immigration further complicate the intricate tapestry of the country’s origin and history.

Given this context, how do humans come into right relationship with each other and Land? 

How do we navigate through this landscape of injustice and heal from colonization and the capitalization of Land that has created so much harm and inequity? How do we do this in a liberatory way that includes healing for everyone? One thing is certain, we will need to continue to create practices and technical infrastructure for the rebalancing, redistributing, and re-imagination of the systems of access, equity, and security that Land provides, and we will need to create pathways that address the fundamental western hallucination–that Land is a private commodity that can be owned.

How do we navigate through this landscape of injustice and heal from colonization and the capitalization of Land that has created so much harm and inequity? How do we do this in a liberatory way that includes healing for everyone?

This is undoubtedly a vast multi-generational endeavor that requires a localized approach, addressing issues place by place and person by person, while also working to change laws and policies. We must be guided by those most impacted, including Indigenous peoples, African-Americans, marginalized and oppressed immigrants, low-income people, women, trans and non-binary people, the Land itself, and our own bodies. An ethical compass is essential for this journey.

Depending on our position within this complex landscape of painful contradictions, we each have different roles to play and varying capacities to help others. As we work to dismantle the many forms of internal and external control that separate us from each other and Land, we build a world that is inclusive rather than based on “othering.”  We allow our places to call us together to address climate change and social inequity. Each of our lineages offers essential context for understanding the unique contributions we can make. With a shared ethical compass that illuminates the liberation work that is ours to do, we can navigate away from the destructive path of extractive civilization and forge a path of healing in connection with the Land.

With a shared ethical compass that illuminates the liberation work that is ours to do, we can navigate away from the destructive path of extractive civilization and forge a path of healing in connection with the Land.

The Compass: A Tool for Orientation

The Center for Ethical Land Transition is an organization dedicated to the practice and the study of ethical land transitions. As practitioners, we encounter embedded laws, business practices, and mindsets that uphold the immorality of colonization in addition to the resulting wealth and access disparity that people experience. We support the transformation and liberation of all parties involved, including Land. With the help of our compass, we orient toward material, relational, and worldview repair as we restore relationship with Land and place-based culture.

North

Humans have co-evolved with Earth’s flora and fauna, relying on the Land to meet our most basic needs for food, water, and shelter. Literally, everything in our environment—houses, tents, office buildings, traffic lights, cell phones, plastics, treasures, trash, everything we call synthetic and organic—originates from the Land. In the North direction of our compass, we remember our reciprocal relationship with the planet, understanding that we must care for Land in order for it to care for us. The North of our Compass symbolizes a return to our Indigenous nature, where humans again become people of place. In many ways, the consumer-driven and individualistic nature of the modern world has divided people from their relationship with Land and each other. However, this is not true for everyone. Through incredible human resilience, even among communities who have faced genocide, many people have preserved their land-based cultures. The North represents remembering our sacred, inextricable relationship with the planet. In the North, we begin to repair our worldview as we course correct from the destructive fallacy of private ownership. The Land exists as its own entity. Coming into Right Relationship with Land involves restoring human ethics and a call to listen to the leadership of cultures rooted in Indigenous worldviews. In the North of the Compass, we nourish the emergence of legal agreements that uphold the Rights of Nature, honor Indigenous perspectives, and support cooperative stewardship. This aspect of our collective work represents an expanding horizon that will continually reveal itself as we restore kinship with one another and the Land.

Coming into Right Relationship with Land involves restoring human ethics and a call to listen to the leadership of cultures rooted in Indigenous worldviews. In the North of the Compass, we nourish the emergence of legal agreements that uphold the Rights of Nature, honor Indigenous perspectives, and support cooperative stewardship.

East ~ West Axis

The legacy of colonialism lives on in a deeply unjust racial wealth gap, where the descendants of Western European colonial settlers have accumulated vast amounts of land and wealth, while the descendants of First Nations and enslaved peoples have endured generations of land and labor theft, along with racist economic policies.

Our morality as well as our survival depend on recognizing that our liberation and shared destiny are bound with one another and our common home.

Repairing our worldview and orienting toward right relationship with Land in the North of the Compass prepares us for the work of Reunion and Relinquishment as described in the East~West axis. As the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West, we each are continually guided to focus on what is ours to reunite with and what is ours to let go.

In the East, we confront the inequality of access to Land and prioritize material repair by centering Land Reunion for Native, African American, and marginalized diasporic communities of color. This process has the potential to support the restoration of cultures and relationships devastated by colonialism and extractive capitalism. This process uplifts cultural practices and Indigenous wisdom vital for our collective survival. Through this work, is it also imperative that communities reuniting with their land-based cultures are able to self-determine their own governance and stewardship practices that are culturally affirming. In practice, this often includes creatively using existing legal frameworks to secure land titles and legal status as a collective organization, in ways that align with the values and culture of the Reunion group.

In the West, attention is brought to those who are the downstream beneficiaries of colonialism and possess an unequal share of wealth, power, and Land. While these individuals possess an abundance of material resources, they carry a complex and often unexamined legacy related to the origins of their wealth. Their path to liberation lies in pursuing both relational and material repair. 

Relational repair is one of the most tender and inspiring dimensions of this work, revealing the depth and resilience of the human heart in breathtaking ways. Many books are now being written by white authors —primarily women—who detail their journey of exploring their lineage, acknowledging how their ancestors benefited from Western colonization, and sharing their efforts to relinquish an unexamined colonizer mindset and building trusted relationships with friends of diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. 

Material repair requires us to critically examine capitalism and its promotion of hyper-individualism and wealth hoarding. In a capitalist system, individuals with wealth are often encouraged to accumulate more wealth. While true scarcity is a lived reality for many, those with wealth are often driven by perceived scarcity—the fear of not having enough and the desire for future security. Rarely do we ask: “What does it mean to have enough?” By confronting this question, those with accumulated wealth can begin to redistribute their excess resources. A primary focus in the West is the practice of letting go. Letting go is not only financial resources but also the relinquishment of practices and belief systems that do not contribute to a broader liberatory framework. For thousands of years, fighting over scarce resources is a mechanism that has effectively divided human populations and has led us to our current sixth mass extinction, climate peril, the rise of fascist regimes, and unconscionable loss of human and nonhuman life. 

The Cultural Renaissance of our times will be led by those who engage in Reunion and Relinquishment in place-based liberation efforts. Our ability to link ourselves together in the lifeboats of our bioregions and entwine our fates is required to survive climate catastrophe and learn how to thrive within the limits of our abundant ecosystems. Though there is immense work to support the well-being of existing Indigenous cultures on the planet, all humans come from Indigenous roots. The societies of domination and power have stripped even those who are the beneficiaries of conquest of their connection with the Earth. Thus cultural reunion with Land and humanity is essential for everyone. 

Though there is immense work to support the well-being of existing Indigenous cultures on the planet, all humans come from Indigenous roots. The societies of domination and power have stripped even those who are the beneficiaries of conquest of their connection with the Earth. Thus cultural reunion with Land and humanity is essential for everyone. 

South

Facilitating reparative land transitions at this moment in history requires practitioners who are rooted in an historical and racial analysis of the situation we aim to heal. Practitioners of law, real estate, mediation, and other technical fields can offer invaluable support by bringing a relationship-centered and culturally affirming approach to ethical land transition. It is essential that practitioners receive support themselves in this bridging and code-switching work, ensuring that the needs and perspectives of the Indigenous, Black, and Cultural Communities reuniting with Land, as well as the Land itself, are prioritized.

In the South of our Compass we acknowledge that practitioners of ethical land transitions are creating new fields of practice. We are reframing our professions to align with ethical frameworks centered on justice, which often differ from those taught in law school and in real estate programs. We focus on accompaniment and solidarity, humble to the fact that we are also undergoing personal transformations in our worldviews. As we learn to dismantle oppressive systems, we strive to do so without fixing, saving, or dominating the people and movement spaces we serve. 

Facilitating repair and practicing ethical land transitions is a learning journey for practitioners that demands greater cultural competence in intercultural contexts. Learning to center the self-determinism, cosmologies, and cultural practices of communities reuniting with Land is deep work. It requires practitioners who orient toward Land and Liberation while engaging in their own lineage work to examine what they must reunite with and what they must relinquish as they too come into right relationship with Land. 

The Center Fire

Amidst the intense expressions of domination and the ongoing legacies of racism in the U.S., the Americas, and beyond, it is essential that we recognize our power to build anew. We must boldly imagine a world beyond private property, where each person has a direct and secure relationship with home, where First Nations are honored as bioregional stewards with access to the Land they need to sustain their communities. We must envision a post-enslavement world in which African Americans and other oppressed diasporic peoples lead their own cultural and economic repair with secure access to housing and Land. We must bravely repair our own lineages, reconnect with our indigenous roots, make space for the histories and cosmologies of others, and become respectful guests of the Land, rather than dominators. This is a path to heal our planet’s ecosystems and the inequities woven into our social fabric. As we traverse this path together, supported by one another, we commune together at the Center Fire.

The Center Fire is an essential and timeless place where people worldwide have gathered since time immemorial to share stories and be warmed. Fire, a transformative element, mirrors the power of our stories, which hold the potential for healing and change. Stories inspire us to see that rebuilding our world is possible, and that we can learn from our mistakes, and celebrate our victories. Stories inspire us to see that we are in this together. We must remember to gather to feed the Fire with stories, to listen deeply to each other, and allow ourselves to be transformed. 

Fire, a transformative element, mirrors the power of our stories, which hold the potential for healing and change. Stories inspire us to see that rebuilding our world is possible, and that we can learn from our mistakes, and celebrate our victories.

In the era of place-based healing and liberation, we need stories of people walking the path of decolonization and coming into right relationship with Land. The stories shared at the Center Fire are about rematriation, inter-cultural regenerative farming, Black foresters, white titleholders courageously examining their legacies and creating paths of repair, settlers working in solidarity with Native groups to transition land to Indigenous stewardship, rivers gaining legal rights, salmon returning as Indigenous people lead dam removals, and the journey of healing from the addiction of hoarding wealth. The Center Fire is fueled by these stories, and it’s up to us to keep feeding that fire as we move together toward an uncharted post-colonial future.

Using the Compass

For the past three years, the Center for Ethical Land Transition has been using and refining our compass as we support land transitions. Recently, we had the opportunity to facilitate a land transition between a reforming tribal group, The Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe, and the John Woolman School, a nonprofit Quaker school. The Land, originally known as Yulića by the Nisenan, encompasses a 232-acre parcel with significant infrastructure. We were called in to support at a moment when negotiations had reached an impasse, stalled by incomplete real estate contracts, misunderstandings, and distrust. Scarcity and fear had taken hold and a new context was needed that could foster unity around the shared intent. By introducing the Compass, we helped everyone remember our common goal of being in right relationship to the Land and the moral imperative of restoring Indigenous stewardship. Rather than taking opposing sides, as conventional real estate prescribes, each party joined together within a circle—connected by the Land— with everyone having a unique role based on their place within it.

Rather than taking opposing sides, as conventional real estate prescribes, each party joined together within a circle—connected by the Land— with everyone having a unique role based on their place within it.

We activated the North by inviting everyone to share about their relationship with the Land. This unified the group through stories of the Land they all cherished. Using the Compass as a guiding framework,  we clarified everyone’s role in the process. The Quaker school was positioned in the West, representing Relinquishment, as their role involved transferring the Land to the Nisenan Tribe. This required support in letting go of a place they had long stewarded with love and care.

The Nisenan Tribe sat in the East, the seat of Reunion, and needed specific support for reuniting with the Land. Their spokesperson, an Indigenous woman, spoke from the heart about what this Land Reunion meant for her tribe, bringing the group into a shared sense of purpose. Five practitioners (agents, lawyers, and facilitators) sat in the South; our role extended beyond client representation, as we facilitated an orientation that supported Cultural Reunion (East), Relinquishment (West), and right relationship with Land (North).

The usual divisions between “buyers” and “sellers” became shared challenges that were addressed in relational rather than transactional ways. Through the generous guidance of the Nisenan spokesperson, we recognized that being in right relationship with Land also meant being in right relationship with each other across the East~West axis of Reunion and Relinquishment.

On September 27, with the support of 3,500 people who contributed to a wildly successful crowdfunding campaign, the village of Yulića was returned to the Nisenan Tribe All parties remain committed to cultivating their connection, honoring the Center Fire, and sharing this sacred story as a continued celebration of their relationship.

The Center for Ethical Land Transition is humbled to serve in this threshold time, as we undertake place-based healing and liberation work together.  Our work is situated in a complex ecosystem of relationships, and we view each Land transition as a shared opportunity for learning and healing.  By observing patterns in these transitions, we use our compass to anchor our reflections and to deepen our understanding. 

The wisdom of this compass is continually revealing itself to us, along with new coordinates of possibility.

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You can learn more about the Center for Ethical Land Transition’s work, and read the complete land transition press release for the The Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe by visiting CenterELT.org