The US and Australia says "hi". I guess we should return those to the natives... I won't hold my breath, tho.
I can't speak for the US, but here in Australia we did exactly that.
47 years ago, Australia introduced the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976, which returned ownership of traditional lands to Indigenous Australians, created Land Trusts and Land Councils so that Indigenous Australians could manage and make decisions about their land, and required all corporations deriving an income from the use of those lands to pay royalties on their income to the local Indigenous people, ensuring their communities would be funded in perpetuity.
The Land Rights Act 1976 established freehold Indigenous ownership, exclusive possession, perpetual leases, and rights to land, water, and sea.
30 years ago, Australia introduced the Native Title Act, which greatly expanded Indigenous land rights by recognising permanent ownership of land and waters on the basis of traditional Indigenous law and customs. In some parts of Outback Australia, tribal law is the law of the land, which means local disputes are typically settled via traditional methods (e.g. spearing an offender).
40% of Australia's entire land mass is covered by Native Title. By way of comparison, 90% of Australia's entire population lives in 3% of Australia's land mass.
