Territory

Territory is far more than just a piece of land marked by borders. It’s a space claimed, controlled, and infused with personal meaning. 

It implies a connection that is emotional, personal and extra-legal, a closeness and an intimacy that is a product of experience, history and time.

Territory can be a geopolitical zone guarded by armies, or a personal domain protected by instinct, pride, or fear. 

It defines where authority begins and ends, where identity roots, and where boundaries, physical, cultural, or psychological – get drawn. 

It’s the visible expression of power and belonging, the result of endless negotiations between who owns, who occupies, and who dares to cross the line.

One can immediately own a property, but true acquisition of a territory requires that one live with it and on it, in harmony with the gods and spirits – and do so for a very long time.

Territory is history, it is identification, it is relationship, and it forms a fundamental part of who you are as a person. 

The primary value of earth as territory, is one of respect, reverence, and gratitude for belonging to the land.

Most indigenous and first nation cultures whose existence depended on the continued fertility of the soil, on community coherence, and other factors that discipline human behaviour, understood these limitations to the freedom of action, and ordered their lifestyles around these limitations and possibilities.

In order to live within a territory, you need to broaden an ethical consideration to include all spirits and gods of the place, preserving the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community (soils, water, plants, and animals). 

Strong self-identification is rooted in a particular place or territory – “I am, where I’m from.”

Chief Seattle, an indigenous chief from the western part of the United States, wrote to the then President who was negotiating (forcing) his tribe to sell their land:

“The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the sky? the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?”

Living in relationship to the territory implies proximity with the natural world, its rhythms, and its boundaries. By being able to touch the earth, know the rhythms of the sun and rain, and being surrounded by its animals and plants, the land itself makes known what is possible. 

Wanting to own a territory demands an attitude of responsibility and presumes concrete obligations to the land. 

“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as an ecosystem to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” – Aldo Leopold, from his book A Sand County Almanac.

Under international law, a territory is an essential part of the definition of a state.

In addition to land, territory includes adjacent waters and associated airspace. A state’s territorial sea, where it is sovereign, extends 19 kilometers (12 miles) into the sea. 

Another 19 kilometers (12 miles) out comprises a contiguous zone for sovereign states, in which some control can be exercised (usually police and public-safety functions). 

Nations may also exercise an exclusive economic zone out to 322 kilometers (200 miles) where they may develop natural resources.

Power within a territory is primarily signified by sovereignty, which is the supreme, absolute, and often exclusive authority to govern a defined geographic area and its population. 

This power is generally manifested through the ability to make and enforce laws, maintain a monopoly on the legitimate use of force, and achieve international recognition

Territory and sovereignty over territory can be acquired by certain means. 

According to international law, these have included occupation, prescription, accretion, cession, and, possibly, annexation.

Occupation occurs when control is acquired over an otherwise uncontrolled territory by a foreign state. Typically, this must be peaceful and public.

Prescription is similar to occupation, but concerns otherwise empty territory. If a second state occupies that territory peacefully and publicly over a long period of time, it may be said to have acquired the territory.

Accretion is when a state’s territory increases by natural processes, such as deposits from rivers or volcanic eruptions.

Cession is when one nation voluntarily gives up territory to another, typically via a treaty or sale. The cession may be the result of a dispute or conflict settlement. 

Annexation implies the taking of land, frequently associated with at least some degree of coercion. 

A concession is when a government gives a private company or organization limited rights to use land, resources, or public facilities for a specific purpose.

Reservation usually refers to Native American reservations, lands connected to federally recognised Indigenous tribes. Reservations were created through treaties, forced relocation, war settlements, or federal policy. In many cases, they are the remnants of much larger ancestral territories that tribes were forced to surrender.

Owning land is considered to be a solid investment, something that gains value over time and helps to build equity. 

The concept of territory, however, fundamentally challenges this idea of land ownership, as an economic asset to be profited from. 

Rights come with obligations. Use territory in ways that allow the land, water, ecosystems, and communities to remain alive and resilient after you are gone.