It’s Tax Season! Philanthropy, let’s Pay Shuumi
Here’s one meaningful way we can redistribute wealth and support the return of Indigenous land
By Kathryn Gilje, Ceres Trust
This April 15, most philanthropic institutions won’t be paying taxes, and not just because of the extension until May 17. Private and public foundations are exempt from federal income tax because they are classified as “charitable organizations” under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS. This tax exemption was created to spur donations to entities that are organized to “serve the public good,” as a way to stimulate and incentivize our civic contributions.
This April 15, let’s reflect together as a philanthropic community:
How effectively do we serve the public good? And how can we creatively expand on the ways we serve the public good?
On whose ancestral, “public” land do we live and work?
Always, and especially now, in this clear moment of public reckoning for racial justice and a right relationship with the land, are we redistributing wealth to the communities from whom wealth, culture and land is violently extracted?
And who will we be, together, in the struggle for public and collective healing, well-being and justice? Especially given our perch, and particular seat at the table?
For those of us in the Bay Area, could we, will we give Shuumi?
Shuumi means “gift” in Chochenyo, the language spoken by the Lisjan Ohlone people whose traditional territory spans much of what is now known as the East Bay, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Having survived over two centuries of genocide and colonization, the Lisjan continue to inhabit this ancestral homeland, where many of us also live and work. Through efforts such as the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, the Lisjan are working on cultural revitalization and land rematriation, or the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous people, along with the regenerating and returning of traditional and cultural practices and knowledge lost during colonization.
The Shuumi Land Tax is a voluntary annual contribution that non-Indigenous people living on Lisjan Ohlone territory make to support the critical work of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust.
Imagine if every philanthropic institution that is located in, has staff living in, or does grantmaking in Lisjan Ohlone territory were to pay Shuumi? The possibilities are profound for how we might take part together in an unfolding flow of justice.
And yet, all told, as of right now, less than 1% of philanthropic organizations in the Bay Area pay Shuumi. Damn.
I know that I cannot begin to understand the full context, meaning, and practice of paying Shuumi. Yet I also know that I live, and Ceres Trust operates, on unceded Ohlone territory, tended, stewarded, dreamed, prayed, visioned, beloved by Ohlone people for thousands and thousands of years. And so, we must acknowledge, and act.
Others in philanthropy are already responding to this call to action. Susan Pritzker, trustee with the Libra Foundation, shares:
“Our offices are on Ramaytush Ohlone land, also known as San Francisco, which we cherish. This call to action means that we acknowledge and learn Indigenous and ancestral histories, often hidden and driven underground. We honor this history by moving funds now. And through this learning and action we begin to experience the edges of healing and repair, for those of us in the philanthropic sector. Our action doesn’t begin or end with payment, but let us be clear, the redistribution of wealth and creation of access to stewardship of land is critical at this moment, as part of our work for justice.”
How do we consider this personally and in our work as philanthropists, who are literally “professional givers”?! Let’s start with humility, and move toward relationship and action from there. Here are some specifics for us to consider:
ONE: Given that our work is in moving money, a bare minimum would be to ensure that some funding is offered with acknowledgement, gratitude, and with deep respect for those whose land we’re on. For the Bay Area philanthropic community, this couldn’t have been made easier for us: if you live, work or do grantmaking on Ohlone Land (check your status here or here), we are given the opportunity to pay the Shuumi Land Tax to provide an offering of gratitude, acknowledge the history of this land, and contribute to its healing. There’s even a calculator created by the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust as an initial tool we can use to make our annual payment. So Bay Area philanthropy, let’s give Shuumi. Let’s make it happen, this year, by the tax extension date, May 17.
TWO: Know that this is only the beginning. Our grantmaking practice must support Indigenous-led and governed efforts through general operating, multi-year funding. There is a sector–wide urgent need to release prescriptive requirements so that we can support groups that have faced attempted genocide, deep displacement, and economic violence to access land, acquire tools to shape and steward these places, and build homes. We can allow funds for land acquisition, redistribute our own land, and support the healing and integrity of rematriation.
These offerings come to mind…
- Save the West Berkeley Shellmound and Village Site, a coalition of Ohlone tribes, Indigenous organizations, and individuals who advocate for historic preservation, Indigenous sovereignty and environmental justice.
- Indian Canyon, which provides a place for all Indigenous Peoples in need of land for ceremony on the the only land continuously held by the Ohlone people.
- California Tribal Fund, created to support California-based, California-Native-led nonprofits and tribal programs in controlling and protecting their food systems, water, languages, traditional ecological knowledge, and land.
- First Nations Development Institute, which improves economic conditions for Native Americans through direct financial grants, technical assistance and training, and advocacy and policy. FNDI has an incredible resource center for philanthropy, including research reports, community perspectives, and funder perspectives that shed light on the current state of philanthropy in Indian Country and challenge philanthropic leaders to evaluate and improve their giving practices toward a more inclusive and deliberate philanthropic culture.
- Cultural Conservancy, a Native-led organization founded in 1985, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with headquarters on unceded Ohlone land and a land base in the sovereign territories of Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo peoples.
- Indigenous Environmental Network, an alliance of Indigenous Peoples whose Shared Mission is to Protect the Sacredness of Earth Mother from contamination & exploitation by Respecting and Adhering to Indigenous Knowledge and Natural Law.
- NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power and creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.
- Honor the Earth, and the current, powerful Water Protector struggle to StopLine3: For Water. For Treaties. For Climate.
- Cultural Survival, which advocates for Indigenous Peoples’ rights and supports Indigenous communities’ self-determination, cultures and political resilience. Their Indigenizing Philanthropy series provides a framework in how to transform and Indigenize philanthropy.
- Native Voices Rising, a grantmaking collaborative led by Common Counsel Foundation and Native Americans in Philanthropy, designed to support organizing, advocacy and civic engagement in American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities.
So many more…this list is a very small beginning, shaped by my own experience, lenses, and path. Where do we each live and work? How can we contribute to repair, healing, rematriation and the thriving of ancestral and cultural knowledge and traditions of those places? Let us share, enlarge the possibilities, be in abundance!
THREE: We need to understand what time it is! We are reckoning with the philanthropic sector’s history of extractive wealth, generated and borne of a violent and racist economy that has claimed lives, generations, and deeply damaged the earth. And those with access to economic wealth and power have the opportunity to rather participate in healing, repair, and a balancing that are long overdue. What a time to be alive! This healing can be facilitated in how we flow funds, and the relationships we will seek and tend.
FOUR: Let’s be accountable. We’ll be checking in again, come November, Native American Heritage Month, and, the month of Thanksgiving, the time of year when a collective focus on Native Americans rises.
Will we have begun to know more about the intention and purpose behind paying Shuumi?
And will at least 25% of Bay Area philanthropy have offered this annual tax?
Will we do the work of challenging our institutional vehicles of “giving” traditional grants, and expand into Indigenous ways of giving?
Will we acknowledge where we are, and the meaning of our moment?
This April 15, I call on my philanthropic peers to urgently consider these words that are shared on the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust website:
“No amount of money will undo the damage that’s been done, will bring back the lost lives or erase the suffering of the people. But this is a step in a long-term process of healing, a small way you can, right now, participate in a movement to support the self determination and sovereignty of the local Indigenous community.”
Philanthropy, let’s give Shuumi.
Give us a shout, drop us a line, let us know you are with us. Here’s my email: gilje@cerestrust.org, or text 510–459–8794.
Justice Funders will be hosting a deeper conversation on this issue on June 3 at 10 am pacific. Save the date, and sign up for Justice Funders’ email list to receive the invite and continue the conversation with us.
Kathryn Gilje is the Executive Director of Ceres Trust, a foundation formed to support healthy and resilient farms, forests, and communities; and the ecosystems upon which we all depend. Kathryn sits on the Steering Committee of Justice Funders and the Health and Environmental Funder Network; is grateful for the input of Paola Diaz and Maria Nakae in the shaping of this piece; and most importantly acknowledges how much she draws and learns from Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, and Corrina Gould, Johnella LaRose, and Ariel Luckey in particular, while living as an uninvited settler and guest on this land.
