Indian Land Tenure Foundation

Indian Land Tenure Foundation was formed by members of the Indian community who identified land loss and mixed land ownership as the most basic and critical issues affecting Indian communities today. Through grants and programs that support Indian nations and their members reclaiming their homelands, ILTF empowers Indian people through land recovery.

Today more than half of all reservation land is owned by non-Indians. In addition, the complex legal principles surrounding Indian land tenure often mean it is impossible for Indian people to live or work on their own land. After more than a century of continuous federal pressure to relinquish control of Indian resources, forced allotment, sale of reservation land and fraudulent dealings at the expense of Indian people, the vast majority of resources generated on Indian land go off-reservation. Even land still under Indian ownership is primarily used for the benefit and profit of non-Indian entities rather than for the communities that need it most.

By educating Indian landowners about land management, increasing economic resources of Indian landowners by returning control to these owners, using Indian land to help Indian people discover and maintain their culture, and reforming legal mechanisms that stand in the way of Indian control over Indian resources, ILTF will ensure that land within the boundaries of every reservation and other areas of high significance where tribes retain aboriginal interest are in Indian ownership and management.