The proposed Living Monument is a 100,000-acre site that spans the border of what we now call the United States and Canada. By acquiring privately and publicly-owned land, ILTF will empower Indigenous communities who have stewarded this land since time immemorial to restore its Native habitat, and to reconnect to each other across colonial borders.

A restored habitat, repurposed infrastructure and non-invasive network of interpretive and gathering spaces will empower Indigenous leaders to address the greatest issues facing Indian Country collectively by honoring and learning from the Chiefs and leaders who have come before.

This plan proposes a process of deparcelization beginning with the acquisition of land on the US/Canada border. This initial parcel will serve as the central point where habitat restoration begins. Local Indigenous communities will lead in decision making around prioritization of land acquisition at significant sites and landscape features radiating out from this central point. Repurposed roadways and new pathways will connect these sites as land is acquired and habitat restoration follows. As land is reclaimed and the circle fills out, the site takes on the form of a dreamcatcher, a symbol of solidarity among Indigenous Peoples throughout the Americas.

“You want to be able to stand on this and wonder: whose land is this? Are we in Canada or US? Is this county land or Indian land? It’s important for people to have to continually ask themselves this question.”