Trust Issues: Using Data to Dig Into Who Profits from US Tribal Lands

Grist used datasets from 15 states to build maps of state trust lands on dozens of Native American reservations across the US .

The investigation found two million acres across 79 reservations in 15 states are now state trust land.

State trust land is used by the federal government to generate income to fund schools, jails, and other public institutions.

An estimated 58,000 acres across several states are leased back to Indigenous tribes for agriculture, grazing, and other uses.

For these tribes, the cost of leasing state trust lands is often more feasible than attempting to secure ownership rights.

Many states don’t make lease information publicly available, leaving reporters and researchers with an incomplete picture of the true extent of trust lands within reservations.