Giving Shuumi: Philanthropy’s Role in Redistributing Wealth and Supporting the Return of Indigenous Land

In this webinar hosted by Justice Funders and co-hosted by Health and Environmental Funders Network and Neighborhood Funders Group, we will hear about the work of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust to facilitate the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous people. We will also learn about the Shuumi Land Tax, an inspiring new model for redistributing wealth to Indigenous communities.

As our society experiences a long overdue racial awakening, the philanthropic sector is simultaneously beginning to reckon with its role in reinforcing a racist economic system that has violently extracted wealth, land and power from Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) communities.

Over the past year, philanthropy has made considerable progress in moving financial resources to communities who have been most harmed by systemic racism. Yet it is clear that we have only scratched the surface of our sector’s moral obligation to dismantle the overlapping systems of oppression that our communities experience on a daily basis. Furthermore, we know that in order to truly move toward healing and repair, we must support the return of land stolen from Indigenous communities along with the revitalization of cultures and languages that have been lost as a result of centuries of land theft and attempted genocide.

This webinar is part of a larger conversation that Justice Funders kicked off earlier this spring, inviting philanthropy to consider its role in the redistribution of wealth and the return of Indigenous land. Following the webinar, participants will have the opportunity to join an interactive workshop for foundation staff and trustees to work through the nuts and bolts of paying institutional Shuumi. We strongly encourage your participation in a follow up webinar in November, in which we will discuss philanthropy’s role in the movement for land rematriation.

Speakers:

• Corrina Gould, Sogorea Te’ Land Trust
• Melissa Nelson, The Cultural Conservancy
• Kat Gilje, Ceres Trust
• Maria Nakae, Justice Funders

Co-sponsored by Health and Environmental Funders Network and Neighborhood Funders Group.