Tribal leaders and scholars across the Great Plains will exchange research and strategies for land reclamation and stewardship at a University of Kansas summit.
Collaborators from KU and other universities, expert practitioners and tribal government leaders will gather for the 2025 Great Plains LandBack Leadership Summit on April 21, according to a news release. The interdisciplinary event is hosted by the KU Office of Sovereign Partnerships & Indigenous Initiatives.
Representatives from the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, Osage Nation, Delaware Tribe of Oklahoma and more are scheduled to speak. James Pepper Henry, former vice chair of the Kaw Nation, will give opening remarks and participate in two panels.
“Attendees will hear about land reclamation stories that demonstrate the legal, economic, political and technical skills needed to engage in successful projects,” according to the release. “Speakers and panelists will also address the notion of collective relationships with lands and waters as members of Native nations who have learned from these lands and waters while serving as the primary stewards long before European arrival.”
The #landback movement is more of a political framework about liberation than simply a campaign, according to landback.org. Melissa Peterson, Sarah Deer and Ward Lyles, KU professors and researchers; McKalee Steen, University of California, Berkeley doctoral student; and Shanasia Sylman, Cornell University doctoral student, will give an overview of the movement as the first presentation of the summit.
Deer and Lyles in November 2023 launched an interactive online storymap that documents instances when stolen land has been returned to Indigenous people. The project also features resources on how to legally return land.
Two national speakers are in the lineup, according to the release. Cris Stainbrook, board director of the Indian Land Capital Company will offer two presentations, one focused on legal and financial considerations. Megan Bang will give a keynote message on Indigenous-centered STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) learning.
The LandBack Leadership Summit is set for Monday, April 21 at Burge Union, 1565 Irving Hill Road on KU’s campus. Registration is free but required by Saturday, April 5.
Breakfast is at 8:30 a.m., followed by opening remarks at 9, and the first session at 9:15. The event continues through the day, lunch included, with closing remarks at 4:45 p.m.
View the full schedule and register for the summit on the Office of Sovereign Partnerships & Indigenous Initiatives’ website, sovereignpartnerships.ku.edu/events.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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