Oregon may have nine federally recognized tribes, representing over 24,000 people living within its borders, but for many of them, it might feel like a stretch to call this state “home.” For centuries, the state’s Indigenous population has been at the mercy of government entities that have removed them from their Native territory and disconnected them from the important connections they have built with the natural habitat.

A long-overdue reckoning does seem to be underway, with some nonprofit organizations working to open up access to certain areas or to simply return land to tribes. One such group, the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts began the Oregon Land Justice Project in 2021. The project aimed to connect land trusts (individuals or organizations that own and care for land in the state) with tribal leaders to create equitable partnerships.

The process isn’t often smooth, and some things can definitely get lost in translation between the two sides. That’s why it helps to have a skilled liaison like Anna-Liza Victory. For the past three years, this 30-year-old has served as a project manager, not only helping to educate interested land trust holders about the need to shift the control of land back to Indigenous groups but also assisting Native organizations in getting the resources they need to purchase and preserve the land in question.

“This is relationship-based work,” Victory says. “You’re building partnerships with tribes. You’re understanding what certain communities and tribes need. You need to listen to the tribes. They’ll tell you what they’re looking for.”

Victory, a member of the Cherokee Nation, comes by her work at COLT via her role in coordinating the Professional Certificate in Tribal Relations program at Portland State University’s Institute for Tribal Government, which aimed to deepen understanding between individuals working for state and federal agencies or nonprofits and tribal communities. It was a substantial job for someone barely in her 20s and seeking her own college degree.

“I’m really surprised they gave a student that level of power and responsibility,” Victory says. “But it was a really great opportunity. It took a year or two to build my confidence up, but I really got to take ownership and build that program and provide an opportunity for mostly non-Indigenous folks to enter into spaces they’ve never really seen.”

Her skills in interacting with people from a wide range of fields and walks of life have been invaluable to her efforts at COLT. Misconceptions about Oregon’s Native population and what they plan to do with any land returned to them remains an issue, requiring a little bit of hand-holding and education to gain a deeper understanding of what’s at stake.

To her credit, Victory has been able to make great strides on that front, like she did with a recent donor who, after participating in one of OLJP’s learning sessions, was moved to make a land purchase in Wallowa County and return it to the Nez Perce tribe. On the other side of the coin, she is connecting tribes throughout Oregon with resources (both financial and logistical) that will allow them to preserve and protect their land.

Successes like those are exactly why Victory was an ideal candidate to take home the 2024 Skidmore Prize. But as honored as she is by the recognition, she says she’d much rather use this as “an opportunity to reach more people and spread this message of land justice and elevating Indigenous peoples' access to land with a larger group of Portlanders who I think would be really receptive to this work.”

Photo by JP Bogan
Profile by Robert Ham