Speakers:
Joe Whittle (Caddo), photographer and creator of LANDBACK: RETURNING PUBLIC LANDS TO NATIVE AMERICANS, a four-part photojournalism project documenting the Landback Movement
Kanim Moses-Conner (Nez Perce) great-great-great grandnephew of the legendary Chief Joseph and a favorite subject/ collaborator of Whittle’s
Marisol Peters (Karuk), co-director of the Native American Student Union and third-year NAIS and public policy program undergraduate student
Torsten Kjellstrand, Professor of Practice, School of Journalism & Communications
Brian Bull (Nez Perce), Assistant Professor, School of Journalism

As the University of Oregon continues its strategic work to build relationships and partnerships with tribal communities, Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) will bring photographer Joe Whittle (Caddo) to campus for “Landback: A Conversation” on Friday, January 24, 2025 at 4 p.m. in the Knight Library Browsing Room. Disscussants will include Kanim Moses-Conner (Nez Perce), great-great-great grandnephew of the legendary Chief Joseph; Marisol Peters (Karuk), co-director of UO’s Native American Student Union; Torsten Kjellstrand, School of Journalism and Communication; and Brian Bull (Nez Perce), School of Journalism and Communication. 

Whittle will launch “Landback: Returning Public Lands to Native Americans,” his four-part photojournalism project documenting the Landback Movement and exploring the compelling reasons why federal lands should be returned to Native Americans. Whittle describes the Landback Movement “as a matter of addressing climate change, conservation, reparations, and a legal requirement due to the unconstitutional violation of every treaty the U.S. ever signed with Native Americans.” The project is categorized into four essential elements of sustainable Indigenous relationships with the land: gathering, growing, protecting, and trading. The common thread throughout is reciprocal relationships between communities of life, a practice that allowed Indigenous ancestors to thrive in their homelands since time immemorial.

SCUA’s exhibit “The Land We Have Always Known,” showng several of Whittle’s photographs, is on view through spring 2025. The exhibit was curated by Marisol Peters.  

“Landback: A Conversation” is cosponsored by the OHC’s Endowment for Public Outreach in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities. For information, contact dmericle@uoregon.edu

Sponsored by Special Collections and University Archives