Dr. CUTCHA RISLING BALDY on Land Return and Revitalization /219
Photo courtesy of Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy
In the United States, land ownership is dishonorable no matter how you frame it. For example, 60% of land in the U.S. is owned privately and 30% is owned by the federal government, comparatively tribal nations own about 2.5% of their land. Meanwhile, the Gates family recently became the largest owners of American farmland, owning a total of 260,000 acres of land across 19 states, with 242,000 acres being characterized as “farmland.” In today’s episode, we are joined by guest Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy to explore what land ownership means across the United States, how to begin seeding the concept of land return in mainstream consciousness, and the grave injustices we perpetuate when we continue to draw upon Traditional Ecological Knowledge for climate mitigation and adaptation without working towards land rematration simultaneously.
We begin our conversation exploring how natural resources and resource extraction has shaped lawn ownership across the country today and then move into the imaginative work that land return requires of us. Cutcha shares how she has witnessed the impossible become possible, the long term effects of the California Gold Rush, the future-making power of Indigenous feminism, and the inherent anti-apocalyptic nature of cultural revitalization.
“Indigenous knowledges are not a backup plan anymore, they are the plan.”
Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy courtesy of Bioneers Conference
Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy is an Associate Professor and Department Chair of Native American Studies at Humboldt State University. She received her Ph.D. in Native American Studies with a Designated Emphasis in Feminist Theory and Research from the University of California, Davis, and her M.F.A. in Creative Writing & Literary Research from San Diego State University. She also has her B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University. Her research focuses on California Indians, Indigenous feminisms, social & environmental justice, and decolonization. Her first book We Are Dancing For You: Native feminisms and the revitalization of women's coming-of-age ceremonies addresses gender inequality and gender violence within Native communities. Dr. Risling Baldy is Hupa, Yurok, and Karuk and an enrolled member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe in Northern California. In 2007, she co-founded the Native Women's Collective, a nonprofit organization that supports the continued revitalization of Native American arts and culture.
♫ Music featured in this episode is “The End” by Aisha Badru, “Holy River” by Høly River, and “Hummingbird, Go!” by Theresa Andersson.
Action Points from Cutcha
Native Women's Collective Book Project
Wiyot Sacred Site Fund
Donate to the Native Women's Collective
Donate to NAS @ HSU (and our Food Sovereignty lab!)
Recommendations from Cutcha
Land-grab universities by Robert Lee and Tristan Ahtone
Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy’s Publications
Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy’s Blog
Episode References
We Are Dancing For You: Native Feminisms and the Revitalization of Women’s Coming-of-Age Ceremonies by Cutcha Risling Baldy
The great hypocrisy of California using Indigenous practices to curb wildfires
Introduction: Indigenous peoples and the politics of water by Melanie K. Yazzie and Cutcha Risling Baldy
Native Women's Collective
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For The Wild is a slow media organization dedicated to land-based protection, co-liberation, and intersectional storytelling. We are rooted in a paradigm shift away from human supremacy, endless growth, and consumerism. As we dream towards a world of grounded justice and reciprocity, our work highlights impactful stories and deeply-felt meaning making as balms for these times.