Everybody is invited to share the Round Dance, a simple dance set to a heart beat rhythm where everybody gets a chance to greet each other, say hello to old and new friends, during the Land Back Festival at Shemanski Park on Sept. 1. Credit: Photo by Diego Diaz
The Land Back Festival, previously known as Paseo, returned to the South Park Blocks at Shemanski Park Sept. 1 to celebrate Indigenous pride. Free live music and dance, poetry, interactive workshops, Indigenous art and more greeted attendees and onlookers.
Equal parts celebratory and educational, the event welcomed attendees to listen to elders’ stories, enjoy traditional cuisine and hear what “Land Back” means to the community.
Amanda Stubits, an organizer, has been involved in the event since its inception in 2021. This year, her Indigenous-led events company, Ittibani, spearheaded it with a renewed focus on the Land Back movement, which inspired the renaming of the event.
“This is the first year that it’s really branched off on its own,” Stubits said. “The programming has wanted to grow each year, but Portland Parks Foundation has a lot of programming going and events aren’t their main focus. They saw how important it was to our communities and what it meant to not only our communities but the people who would attend and learn. So they passed on ownership to my company.”
Portland Parks Foundation, or PPF, transferring the festival to Ittibani marks the first year an Indigenous-owned company fully produced the event. For Stubits, Indigenous people making key decisions about the event creates a unique opportunity to showcase Indigenous culture in a way that does right by the community it wants to highlight.
“I think the momentum of this happening every year, it’s been a great event that gives our community an unfiltered voice,” Stubits said. “People from all backgrounds and all communities can come, and it’s such a special event to all of us.
“Putting all of the decision-making into our community’s hands has really shown we have the ability to give this the attention that it needs to continue to expand.”
What is Land Back?
When Stubits first organized the event in 2021, she had the idea of naming it the “Land Back Festival.” However, after talking to other organizers, they decided to change it to Paseo due to concerns about sponsorships and potential backlash, Stubits said.
“There was some concern about the judgment that comes around it and linking to it being a protest or vandalism and due to the sensitivity (with) everything that had happened around COVID …” Stubits said. “Being this was an event that was directly tied into city sponsorships, I think people were kind of afraid of it.”
This moment only further pushed Stubits to “lean into” the event’s focus on Land Back the second year.
“People should not be afraid of it,” Stubits said. “Our community should be able to have that unfiltered voice and have that opportunity to really talk about it. What does it actually mean? And why does it instill this push or fear in certain communities that are not ours? Let’s lean into that.”
Jillene Joseph (above), Future Generations Collaborative board of directors member, speaks about Barbie's Village, the group's tiny home village for Native parents with small children named in memory of Barbie Jackson Shields, during the Land Back Festival at Shemanski Park.
The term “Land Back” was popularly coined in 2018 by Aaron Tailfeathers, a member of the Kainai Tribe of the Blackfeet Confederacy of Canada who called for the reclamation of stolen Indigenous land.
The term grew to broadly encompass tribal sovereignty, recognition of treaties, maintaining language and tradition, access to sustainable agriculture, building sustainable housing and more. However, the term and movement have different meanings for everyone.
Domanique Blackwolf, a Klamath Modoc flutist, spoke at the event about what Land Back means to her in light of the completion of the Klamath River dam removal — one of the largest dam removal and river restoration efforts in U.S. history.
“Thirteen years ago, my tribe signed a treaty with the state of Oregon to deconstruct four dams along the Klamath River, and it was at that time that I set forward a prayer to return home to dedicate my life and service to the waters; the protection of that sacred resource,” Blackwolf said. “I’m proud to stand here today and share with you that just last week, that final push of the last dam was taken down, and the Klamath River now runs free into the ocean.”
Chiyokten, a member of the Saanich Tribe of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, performed an elk spirit psalm and talked about the relationship between people and the land, which was a key theme touched on by multiple speakers and performers at the event.
But for him, Land Back also means confronting the historical genocide of Indigenous people in Canada.
“They’re still killing us,” Chiyokten said. “If you look at anything that kills Indigenous people, we’re at the top of the list for every single thing, including diabetes, heart attacks, death by police, you name it, we’re at the top. Genocide has not stopped, family.
“So we need to return to our land. We need to return to the governances of our lands so that we can heal.”
‘It feels safe’
For some, Land Back is about taking space and maintaining a presence when it’s not historically given to you. Lorelei Kruger, a Yakama artist selling artisanal goods at the festival, said it felt good being a vendor among other Indigenous-led small businesses.
Members of Four Directions Singers and Dancers perform at the Land Back Festival at Shemanski Park.
“It’s a good feeling, and it’s like a feeling of acceptance, especially in a big city where you’re not really recognized as much as everybody else,” Kruger said. “Seeing everybody else, it’s like a community feeling. There’s a lot of talent out there, whether it be cooking salmon or making earrings or beaded items.”
Natalie Mitchell, another artisan and member of The Citizen Potawatomi Nation, shared a similar sentiment and pointed out how it was reassuring to be in a place where Indigenous artists didn’t have to qualify their prices, significance, cost of supplies and work that it takes to create their products.
Mitchell also emphasized the importance of having people unfamiliar with Indigenous culture view it in a modern setting.
“Our items are not only historical but also modern,” Mitchell said. “Folks don’t feel like items are only in, say, a museum out there but also being made right now with modern adaptations or modern twists.”
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