The National Parks & Monuments Fund Initiative Beneficiary Sign-Up
Recentering and Compensating Indigenous People in the National Parks Narrative
An Ongoing Initiative from the Lakota People’s Law Project, In Partnership with Participating Tribal Nations and Affected Indigenous Leadership Groups
The Lakota People’s Law Project formally invites tribes whose ancestral land is occupied by National Parks and National Monuments to join our new, annual initiative to recenter Indigenous people in the National Parks narrative and compensate them when tourists visit their ancestral homelands. We welcome Indigenous communities within the boundaries of the United States, including tribes — both federally recognized and non-federally recognized — and traditional leadership collectives of Indigenous people to join this program as beneficiaries, so long as their ancestral land is occupied by the National Parks Service or by National Monuments. This initiative is the first of its kind and will launch publicly around July 4th, 2024.
A Growing Initiative
While our eventual goal is to include peoples whose homelands are occupied by every National Park and Monument across Turtle Island, this first year, we are inviting Indigenous communities whose homelands are occupied by the following parks and monuments: Death Valley, Haleakalā, Yosemite, Zion, Arches, Glacier Bay, Rocky Mountain, Crater Lake, Wind Cave, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Devil’s Tower, Bears Ears, and Yellowstone.
If your land is occupied by another park or monument, please know that we intend to expand the capacity of this initiative each and every year. We’re excited you’re here, and we welcome you to apply as a beneficiary at any time! We look forward to adding your homelands to the scope of this initiative, and we’ll reach out to you about listing you as a beneficiary soon.
Why Join?
National Parks and Monuments currently occupy Indigenous lands in ways that are overwhelmingly non-consensual, unfair, and a burden on Indigenous communities and ways of life. We want to help restore respect for Indigenous relations with the land by empowering local tribes and tribal-affiliated groups impacted by the National Parks Service, both financially and by telling their histories and stories. We believe this starts with telling the truth about National Parks, centering Indigenous voices, stories, and histories, and generating financial compensation for the public’s trespasses and use of Indigenous homelands. This is a never-before-seen program, and we anticipate that it will evolve as it grows. We welcome your thoughts, ideas, and visions as we come together to heal the relationships between our communities and lands for this and future generations.
Truth and Compensation
Public Online Education Center: The Lakota People’s Law Project will host a webpage for the public to learn the real Indigenous histories of the National Parks they’re visiting. This page will share histories of the Indigenous peoples that have lived on this land, and additional information and links that beneficiaries want the public to know. Lakota People’s Law Project will annually tell members of the press about this initiative. We will also share this widely on social media in an effort to educate the public. In the future, we plan to partner with additional organizations who want to help us educate the public.
Public Awareness & Public Donations: The Lakota People’s Law Project (which operates under a parent 501(c)(3) nonprofit) will have donation pages on its website for people to give to this initiative. Members of the public can select the National Park(s) or Monument(s) they're visiting this summer, and make a donation to the tribes whose lands are occupied by them. For donations of $20 or more, donors can opt-in to receive two stickers from Lakota Law with the initiative’s logo on them, so they can educate people about the initiative. The rest of the donation will pay out annually, split evenly among participating tribes or other beneficiary groups for each location, with a small percentage set aside by Lakota Law for an ongoing legacy fund to help and grow this initiative annually.
Solidarity
We understand that some tribes may have significant revenue streams from other ventures and may not want or need these donations. In this case, we ask you to join our initiative in solidarity, and we will list your tribe or group as a solidarity partner and allocate donations evenly to appropriate tribes or other valid beneficiary groups who want financial compensation. By lending your support for this cause, you will help show the public the importance of Indigenous community and empowerment.
Have a question? Please email us at parks@lakotalaw.org
Please Note: This information is internal, for tribal nations, affiliated organizations, and leadership only until July 2024. We respectfully ask that you keep discussion of it internal. We welcome your participation and any input you have. We anticipate this program will grow and evolve, as nothing quite like it has been done before.
Wopila tanka — thank you, sincerely, for your interest, and we hope to work together with you!