A Native American tribe is requesting that Ben & Jerry’s return the Vermont land currently used by the ice cream giant. The statement follows a July 4 social media post in which the company called for Mount Rushmore to be returned to Native people.
Chief Don Stevens of the Nulhegan Band of The Coosuk Abenaki Nation said that the tribe is “always interested in reclaiming the stewardship of our lands throughout our traditional territories and providing opportunities to uplift our communities.”
The chief said that the ice cream company had not approached the tribe regarding land reclamation.
Did you know that Ben and Jerry’s was sold to a giant corporate conglomerate over 20 years ago for a cool 326 million?
Socialists love nothing more than capitalism for themselves… pic.twitter.com/F7UjcUJHQY
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) July 5, 2023
The effort comes after Ben & Jerry’s issued a tweet last week asking to “commit” to returning land formerly inhabited by Native Americans.
“This 4th of July, it’s high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it,” the company wrote.
Furthermore, Ben & Jerry’s tweeted an online petition calling for turning over Mount Rushmore to the Lakota people.
“Ah, the Fourth of July,” the company wrote. “Who doesn’t love a good parade, some tasty barbecue and a stirring fireworks display? The only problem with all that, though, is that it can distract from an essential truth about this nation’s birth: The US was founded on stolen Indigenous land.”
“This year, let’s commit to returning it,” it wrote.
The company said that it supported the “Land Back” movement, which it describes as being “all about restoring the rights and freedoms of Indigenous people. It’s about dismantling White supremacy and systems of oppression and ensuring that Indigenous people can again govern the land their communities called home for thousands of years.”
The company asked what the meaning of “Independence Day for those whose land this country stole, those who were murdered and forced with brutal violence onto reservations, those who were pushed from their holy places and denied their freedom.”
The company described the presidents preserved on Mount Rushmore as “the faces of men who actively worked to destroy Indigenous cultures and ways of life, to deny Indigenous people their basic rights.”
