Land Back

This interactive map highlights key Indigenous-led land reclamation efforts across North America, from urban rematriation projects to large-scale environmental restorations and historic land returns. Each marker represents a specific case study, showing whether the initiative is ongoing, successfully completed, or pending. The map aims to visualize the dynamic and multifaceted Land Back movement, emphasizing Indigenous sovereignty, cultural revitalization, legal advocacy, and ecological stewardship.

Users can explore by location to learn about the history, current status, and significance of each project, illustrating how Indigenous communities continue to assert their rights and renew their connection to ancestral lands through diverse and innovative strategies.

# Install leaflet if you don't have it yet
# install.packages("leaflet")

library(leaflet)

# Define case studies with coordinates and popup info
case_studies <- data.frame(
  name = c(
    "Standing Rock Sioux & Dakota Access Pipeline (NDAPL)",
    "Sacred Storm Buffalo Project (Rapid City, SD)",
    "Sogorea Te’ Land Trust (Oakland/Berkeley, CA)",
    "Pine Island - Kuwesuwi Monihq (Washington County, Maine)",
    "Rinihmu Pulte’irekne (Sequoia Point) - Oakland, CA",
    "Onondaga Nation (Near Syracuse, NY)",
    "National Bison Range (Flathead Reservation, Montana)",
    "Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (Cape Cod, MA)",
    "Upper Sioux Agency State Park (Minnesota)"
  ),
  lat = c(46.42, 44.08, 37.83, 44.82, 37.86, 43.04, 47.5, 41.65, 44.68),
  lng = c(-100.95, -103.23, -122.27, -67.47, -122.18, -76.15, -114.15, -70.44, -95.54),
  status = c(
    "Ongoing legal / land rematriation work",
    "Ongoing and operational",
    "Ongoing, active landback & cultural stewardship",
    "Finished (successful land reacquisition)",
    "Finished (successful land transfer)",
    "Ongoing with partial successes",
    "Finished (successful transfer)",
    "Ongoing potential / pending",
    "Finished (successful transfer)"
  ),
  stringsAsFactors = FALSE
)

# Assign colors based on status
case_studies$color <- ifelse(grepl("ongoing", tolower(case_studies$status)), "orange",
                      ifelse(grepl("finished", tolower(case_studies$status)), "green",
                             "blue"))

# Create the leaflet map
m <- leaflet(case_studies) %>%
  addTiles() %>%  # Use OpenStreetMap tiles
  setView(lng = -100, lat = 44, zoom = 4) %>%
  addCircleMarkers(
    ~lng, ~lat,
    color = "black",
    fillColor = ~color,
    fillOpacity = 0.8,
    radius = 8,
    weight = 1,
    popup = ~paste0(
      "<b>", name, "</b><br>",
      "<b>Status:</b> ", status
    )
  )

# Print the map
m

library(htmlwidgets)
 saveWidget(m, "landback_map.html", selfcontained = TRUE)