[9] Indigenous peoples in the United States without a territory or a reservation, such as the Oklahoma Choctaws and the Winnemem Wintu, are nations without a land base, which affects their ability to assert sovereignty and self-determination while also leading directly to the loss of language, culture, and traditions.
[17][15] As such, ownership of and access to land is a major determinant of "economic solvency, social power structure, and hierarchy[15]" and it is considered to be the most important contributor to poverty for rural households.
[17] The rural landless are separated from means of production[12] and become dependent on non-agricultural sources of labor[17] which are often inconsistent and offer insufficiently low wages.
[12][18] As a result, they continue to be unable to access adequate land due to the lack of social and fiscal power and are confined to the poorest segments of society.
[19] Colonialism has direct consequences on landlessness, where it undermines existing social and organizational structures and generally enables exploitative land management practices.
[21][22][23] The Day of the Landless on March 29 is inaugurated by the Asian Peasant Coalition to raise awareness and advocate for land rights for rural workers across Asia.