This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land: Toward a Global Analysis of the Determinants of Successful Indigenous Tribal Land Claims

Abstract

With colonial occupation, independence, migration, inter-tribal warfare, and other changes in government, indigenous tribes have lost their lands. This exploratory research considers indigenous and tribal land claims on a global basis. Over the years, indigenous peoples have lost their collective property rights to own, use or exclude others from utilizing their traditional lands. Many countries, including the United States, India, Canada, South Africa, and others, have begun to develop processes by which land claims can be processed, and lands or money returned to the original groups. We compare the various legal systems for this process. To accomplish this, we have surveyed available data, which are collected by countries that include laws present in those nations and their constituent sub-national bodies, cases of tribal claims, basis for the claims, and court and financial outcomes. Case studies for several counties and their outcomes are described. Using inductive learning from case studies, a research design for an international study for modeling successful land claims is set forth.