Now if that isn’t a hot button issue I don’t know what is. Do you know whose lands you live on? Do you know the history of where you live? Don’t you think you should? I reside in Pennsylvania on the stolen lands of the Lenape people.

Does that mean I should turn over the deed to my home or my land to the Lenape people? Maybe, but it could also be in regard to how we care for the land. The Native people of this land were in harmony with it, they nurtured and cared for it. Then Colonialism happened and their land was stolen and the stewards of it were pushed onto small reservations, their language was taken, and their children were stolen and placed in “schools” to try to integrate them into a different culture.

Is it any wonder that the Native people are fighting to reclaim what they lost? Look what we have done to this land. We have raped it of natural resources, built big cities that have robbed animals of their natural habitats, which in turn changes the whole eco system. Think global warming and you are starting to see the bigger picture.

The Land Back movement is currently concerned with having Federal lands returned to the sovereign authority of Native People. They are looking for the closure of Mount Rushmore, and return of that land and all public lands in the Black Hills, South Dakota. Mount Rushmore sits in the heart of the sacred Black Hills, and is a huge symbol of white supremacy and colonization. Treaties have been written and ignored by the US Government regarding this land for decades. Its not time to honor them.

As statues that represented slavery and white supremacy were torn down across the country Mt. Rushmore has been left to stand. As much as I would love to see this as the artistic marvel it is, I don’t believe it belongs in Federal Hands anymore and if it is taken down so be it. As this country continues to fight to dismantle white supremacy and systems of oppression we need to start putting Indigenous Lands back in Indigenous hands.

I know that sounds scary to some people but we need to start at the beginning. By giving the land back to the steward of this land. Maybe if we do this our planet will actually survive. So for now, don’t worry about your house, and think about turning over federal lands to the people who protected and cared for them long before we were here.