Democratic Community Governance
Land stewards––those who live, work, or cultivate the land or who share deep connection and history with the land--are the primary decision makers over how the land is cared for, sustained, and by whom.
Those who have the most relationship with the land and who are most impacted by what happens to the land are best suited to make decisions about the land. Decision-making is democratic, meaning participatory, transparent, and accessible decision making that is aligned with cultural traditions of each community.
Community Vision
Na’ah Illahee Fund
Na’ah Ilahee Fund is an Indigenous women-led organization dedicated to the ongoing regeneration of Indigenous communities. Through several land stewardship projects, Na’ah Ilahee Fund established the E’lip Tilikum Land Conservancy to restore land to Indigenous communities, is a member of Indigenous Seattle, and is collaborating with King County Land Conservation and Equity Initiative to get a conservation easement to establish an urban farm plot for traditional food and preservation for Native communities.
Lindsay Goes Behind
Managing Director, Na’ah Illahee Fund
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The land conservancy came about from community conversations, from hearing over and over again this is what we want, this is what we need... For us, it’s not a project worth doing if community is not just bought in, but bought into the degree that they want to take a leadership role in it. If you don’t have folks who say, ‘This is so important that I want to be part of this from the ground up, want to be on that steering committee, on that council; I want to have my voice heard,’ then it's not the right thing.
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In the E'lip Tilikum Land Conservancy, we’re in a planning study, and the whole idea is to get out to community and hear, ‘what do you want in it, what do you want to see, how do you want to see the structure, who do you want the decision-makers be and how should that look, and where should it be in the city, what are the important places, what are the sacred sites that we need to preserve, what are the businesses, what are the opportunities you want this to provide’...It has to be that we all as a collective group say these things are important. If we can get on the same page that these are the important things, then that’s where we move from.
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It may take us a long time to achieve the vision of ELTC. It may take us a lot longer than other communities to do our first land purchase, but the process matters as much as the outcome. So, it's more important that we take the time do a teachings-first, culturally-based, community-led process than to jump on the first opportunity that comes along. The land carries the stories of the ancestral people who steward it and that must first be acknowledged and respected and given gratitude before we can move forward in a good way.”