Community Impact

Land Recovery Efforts Bring Hope

From 1887 to 1934, 90 million acres of Indian land were removed from Indian ownership and control. Nearly two-thirds of the total Indian land base was sold, transferred to non-Indians, or lost due to forced sales. Today, more than half of the land within reservation boundaries across the U.S. is privately held by non-Indians. Many Indian nations are now reclaiming these lost lands through legal transfers and purchases.

Since its inception in 2005, ILCC has made several million dollars in loans to tribes for land acquisition including:

Yurok Tribe, California

In 2010, ILCC provided the Yurok Tribe with a $1 million loan to purchase 5,500 acres of timberland on the Klamath River. Then, in 2011, ILCC extended the Tribe a $1,000,000 line of credit and bridge loan toward the purchase of another 22,237 acres. The land, which was purchased from a timber company, will become part of a Yurok Tribal Community Forest and will be sustainably managed to protect its natural and cultural resources. Read more

Snoqualmie Tribe, Washington

In 2007, ILCC provided a $1.2 million loan to the Snoqualmie Tribe toward the purchase of 35 acres of land, which nearly doubled the size of its small reservation. The Tribe is developing the additional land to expand housing and health care services for tribal members. Read more

Lower Sioux Tribe, Minnesota

In 2009, ILCC provided a $935,000 loan to the Lower Sioux Tribe to purchase 170 acres of land, increasing the Tribe’s land base by 10 percent. The newly acquired land is used for ceremonial purposes and for tribal member housing.
Blackfeet Tribe, Montana

Blackfeet Tribe, Montana

In 2007, ILCC provided a $1,000,000 loan to the Blackfeet Tribe to purchase a 1,200 acre ranch within the boundaries of the reservation. Now under Blackfeet control, the land is leased by the Tribe for agricultural purposes, and is in the process of being transferred into trust status.