Cultural Respect Easements

A cultural respect easement (CRE) is a legal agreement with a landholder that grants Indigenous peoples cultural access to their ancestral land forever.

CRE’s protect Indigenous access to the land and can act as a step toward land return. However, they do not grant tribal nations ownership or the ability to exercise sovereignty over the land.

CRE’s designate safe areas for Indigenous peoples to practice their traditional and spiritual lifeways

Renewing relationships between people and place

Access to ancestral homelands restores:

  • Multigenerational education and learning

  • Belonging and generational healing

  • Language revitalization and generational wisdom

  • Spiritual and cultural practices

  • Land-based ceremonies

  • Seasonal camps and celebrations

  • Gardening, foraging, and sustainable harvesting

  • Fishing and hunting

  • Water access and activities

  • And more

Setting Up a Cultural Respect Easement

Anyone can set up a CRE! And NLC can support agreements between tribal nations, organizations, Indigenous groups, and any other landholder interested in creating opportunities to share land.

The process to create a CRE varies by location and group, but general includes these phases:

  • Building Relationships - Developing strong relationships supports trust, mutual respect, and accountability between parties.

  • Co-defining Access and Easement Terms - Collaboration between both parties to outline and define the specific terms of access.

  • Recording the Easement - Formalizing the agreement with the Registry of Deeds.

  • Education - Raising awareness of the CRE with neighbors, the public, or environmental enforcement groups through signage, meetings or presentations can prevent misunderstandings about why and how tribal members are present on the land and may prevent potential harassment.

“A cultural respect easement is the closest expression of land reparation to Indigenous people achieved without an actual transfer of deed. It offered assurance for us to safely access areas of our ancestral homeland to exercise spiritual and cultural practices. Respect for our cultural includes respect for our relationship with the earth, especially in areas where our ancestors prayed, danced, toiled, lived and were buried.”

— Ramona Peters (Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe) NLC Chair and Founder

Cultural Access in Action

NLC and Dennis Conservation Land Trust came together in 2016 to establish relationship, understanding, and a CRE. The CRE granted Indigenous people legal cultural access to Chase Garden Creek, land held by the Dennis Conservation Land Trust.

From there, the relationship grew and ultimately opened the door to cultural access to all of Dennis Conservation Land Trust’s properties, amounting to over 440 acres of land in traditional Wampanoag Nation territory. This partnership means that Indigenous people are reconnecting with their ancestral places, and have restored access to practice their traditions and live their culture in perpetuity.

NLC believes that the land provides, and should be provided for, and this happens when we make space for Indigenous connections to the land.

Learn more about our other cultural respect easements

Let’s work together

As of 2026, NLC has supported access to 460 acres of land through CRE’s and we are eager to share our learnings.

To learn more about our technical assistance work and how we can assist you in setting up your own CRE, connect with us at: info@nativelandconservancy.org.

“The Native Land Conservancy cares for the land in ways we think our ancestors would appreciate.”

— Paula Peters (Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe), NLC Communications and Programs Coordinator