Resistance in a time of Repression: An Up-Close-and-Personal Q&A with Nick Tilsen

Nick Tilsen, the founder and CEO of NDN Collective has spent most of his life within Indigenous movements and activism building relationships and community across Turtle Island. He developed NDN Collective to holistically build the power of Indigenous Peoples through capacity building, funding, philanthropy, and storytelling, with the strong conviction  that our best days as Indigenous people are still ahead of us. 

Nick is often on the frontlines of NDN Collective actions and has gained national recognition by both supporters and critics for his strong stances and bold voice when speaking up for Indigenous rights and LANDBACK. He has always stood as a protector of his people, his children, family and community. 

We sat down with Nick for a personal interview to talk about his experience in movement work, his plans for the future, and his perspective on how to navigate the hard road ahead. Here’s what he had to say: 

Over the last seven years, NDN Collective has made huge impacts for Indian Country in the fields of philanthropy, lending, capacity building and organizing. How will the organization continue to show up for the people during the challenges ahead?

NDN Collective will continue to invest into the self- determination of Indigenous people because we believe it yields results in making the world a more just and equitable place and helps us work toward our liberation. Over the last seven years, we’ve built a massive network of organizations, tribes, collectives, and the next iteration of NDN Collective will formalize that network to continue building Indigenous power. 

NDN has catalyzed the LANDBACK movement, a movement for revolutionary change for Indigenous communities that is beginning to go global. NDN Collective will continue to support that movement because when we reclaim our land we can change our positionality and protect our rights by influencing those making decisions over the lives and lands of Indigenous people. So as we look ahead to the uncertainties and chaos this authoritarian government brings, we’ll look to the network that we’ve built to continue the work of the LANDBACK movement. 

When it comes to our work around democracy and challenging the rise of authoritarianism, we’ll continue pushing for structural and revolutionary change not just because these systems are responsible for the stealing of our land, but because they continue to threaten our homelands and uphold the oppression of our people.

In these times of increased repression and political persecution, why keep fighting? 

History has told us that when you don’t fight back, that’s when they exterminate you. That’s when they eliminate you, steal your rights, come for your land, come for your freedom, for your families and your people. The reality is we as Indigenous people would not be here if we hadn’t resisted and we hadn’t fought. The way I view this is that indigenous people are on a continuum of 500 years of Indigenous resistance ever since Columbus and the colonizers first came to this hemisphere. 

When we are experiencing political and legal repression, it is the most important time to resist. What they’re trying to do is shift us all politically to the right and in a direction where they can control every aspect of our lives, land and who we are as a people. As Indigenous people, we know that firsthand because that’s exactly what was done to us. Now we’re in a moment where everybody in the country is starting to be treated like an Indian and people are pissed about it.

As Indigenous people, this is a moment for us to build allyship and build a broader movement that reflects where we’re trying to go and resist against the powers that be. They aren’t threatening to pollute our air, pollute our waters and violate our human rights. They’re actively doing it. The more we think or pretend that we’re not at war for our future and the more we allow those in power to steal from us, the faster we will cease to exist. We are fighting for self-determination, we are fighting for the right to have the decision-making power over our lives, our land, our education systems, our food systems, sovereignty, and everything that we are as a people. 

We have to understand that our future is at stake and that the next generation absolutely deserves to live in a more just and equitable world, one that lifts up Mother Earth, one that prioritizes community, one that sees humanity and justice in all people. So that’s why we must resist. That’s why I’ll continue to resist and why I’ll continue to organize and continue to speak truth to power. And I encourage my friends, my children, my relatives, my comrades to do the same.

You’ve been an organizer for a long time. How did you come into this way of life? 

I come from a family of organizers and activists on both sides. My family has been doing this for a couple generations. On my mother’s side we’re Oglala Lakota, organizers and activists, and then on my father’s side of the family we’re Jewish social justice activists.

The very first issue that I ever worked on was when I was 13 years old and I wrote a letter to Leonard Peltier. Since I grew up in the movement and my family, I knew his story, but it wasn’t until I was a teenager that I really understood his case and what happened to him. In the letter, I told him what they did to him was wrong and that I was going to fight for him to be free. He wrote me back and he said, thank you for fighting for me. He also said, the important thing is to not just fight for him, but to fight for all Indigenous people and to fight for our land. That had a big impact on me at the age of 13. After that I started collecting signatures for executive clemency for him and did so until I was 18. Back then it was the old school way too when you literally walked around with a clipboard and got people’s signatures, their address, an ID and everything. You had to talk with people. That’s organizing, communicating with people, talking with people and explaining an issue to build understanding and get their support.

As a teenager, I also lived in Alaska seasonally in the summer time as a commercial fisherman. Being in the Prince William Sound in Alaska there was a huge amount of movements up there fighting to protect the environment and protect subsistence ways of life. So I connected with folks in Cordova, Alaska to fight for environmental protection and Indigenous rights.

What are some lessons you’ve learned along the way as an organizer, as a community leader, and as a father? 

Well, I think as a father it’s showing up and having unconditional love for your kids and providing for them no matter what. Navigating the complexity of being a parent and raising teenagers in this time we’re in is by far the hardest thing that I’ve ever undertaken in my whole life. Harder than any campaign, harder than any organizing effort is helping my children navigate this world that is rapidly changing. Since my kids were young I would take them with me when I traveled because I wanted them to see and learn more about the work that I was doing. When you’re able to travel out of your immediate community you get a different perspective and that was always important for me to provide for my children. Any big things that I was ever doing at work, I tried hard to try to include them into it and explain to them what it was. 

At the same time, they want to be their own selves, have their own lives, and their own deeds and they deserve that. Just because somebody’s father or mother is a well-known activist or community leader, we should never rob or take away the importance of our children being their own person. I’ve always tried to balance that and sometimes I’ve done that successfully but other times unsuccessfully too. 

Everything that I have ever fought for in my work as a community leader has a direct impact on my children’s lives and my future grandchildren’s lives. I think about them when I do this work, I think about the future. With that though, sometimes when you’re thinking about the future, you don’t always do the best job in the moment. I’ve had great successes as a father, but I’ve had shortfalls as a father, too. It’s a hard balance and it continues to be hard as my children grow into adults. 

But one thing that’s always certain is that I love my children and I would give my life for my kids in a heartbeat.

There are changes on the horizon, as this is a historic time to be living in, how do you navigate change as a leader?

Accept that change is always constant. The reason that we have been able to survive for generations is because of our ability to evolve and adapt in a changing climate and changing world. When you accept that things are changing, when you are constantly evolving and adapting, you’re doing so not just in response, that in the moments of change you are innovating and creating alongside that change. So hopefully that process can be regenerative for you and the people around you instead of being purely extractive. 

It’s hard because of all the fear mongering in the world. There’s so much panic around and that panic is real because there are so many threats to us these days. People are facing jail time for just expressing their constitutional rights. People are being kidnapped by ICE. We as Indian people have intergenerational trauma that literally lives inside of us because of the things our ancestors have endured. 

I’ve worked really hard to be grounded in spirituality and belief. I try to remember that we’re not just accountable to the human beings on this Earth, but that the Ancestors are also watching and Creator is watching and I try to see the bigger picture alongside these harsh realities.

What do you have to say to the people in this uncertain political climate?

Don’t let the colonizers tag you with a label. What I mean by this is we look all throughout history of how the government has treated Indigenous people. At one time we were called “savages,” and then we were called “hostiles,” and then “militants.” Now we’re being called “terrorists.” It’s old news for colonizers and the governments made up of them to stick labels on our people. To make us seem less human, to make it seem like we’re a threat. To make us seem like we’re less than. Because if colonizers can tag us with those labels, then they can use the full force of their agencies, of their courts, of their systems to try to dehumanize, villainize, and criminalize us, to try to kill us, to try to destroy us.

We have to push back on those labels and remind them we’re human beings. We’re fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunties, children and grandchildren. We deserve to be on this Earth, and we have a  human right to be protected. We deserve to speak truth to power. I think it’s really important to remind folks in this moment to never let anybody take your humanity away and turn you into something that you’re not. So in these times stand tall in your power and be proud of where you’ve come from and your identity. 

Remember also to come together, talk with people, and build community because authoritarianism wants to divide the community. They want to shatter movements, they want to shatter communities because that’s how authoritarianism gets their foothold and their power. We have to build power through stronger relationships so that we can look out for one another and build collective resilience that leads to stronger movements of change that can upend what’s happening in the world, and to do it with empathy and love and beautiful resistance.

Who do you look up to? 

I look up to the children, the nieces and the nephews at the Oceti Sakowin Community Academy. Who every single day, start their day in our language with a prayer and with gratitude. They’re proud of who they are and where they come from. They are the future. 

What are some of your specific hopes and wishes for the futures of your children, grandchildren and future generations?

I want them to feel safe. I want them to have an opportunity to live in a society, in a community, in a world where they’re not discriminated against. Where they have as equal footing and opportunity as any other person. That they’re able to live in a world that’s not stacked against them so they can prosper in life and do good things for themselves and their community and for Mother Earth. I hope for them to have a strong sense of who they are in the world, to have their identity and their culture. 

I also want them to create. When you get out of survival mode you’re able to innovate and see new solutions. That’s something I really hope for in this work, that we’re not so much in survival mode in the future. Because when you’re in fight, flight, or freeze, the creative part of your brain ends up getting suppressed.With so much coming at our people and so much injustice a lot of our people are living in fight, flight or freeze. 

I think the gems of my children, my grandchildren and future generations exist in our ability to be creative and innovate something new. That’s a big hope for me; our children acting in their own self-determination and their own autonomy to build a world they can see themselves in. Because I don’t think we know all the challenges that are on the horizon in the future. But if we build good human beings that are grounded in good values and good principles and have empathy, then we can build societies that are rooted in care and hope and abundance.

Why a french bulldog?

My son, Jozaya, always wanted an inside house dog because we lived out in the country and we always had about three or four rez dogs who lived outside. They were ranch dogs, they had to run around on 160 acres but they didn’t come inside. Well, during covid we were home all the time and Jozaya really wanted a house dog. He wanted to have a best friend for his birthday, so that’s what I got him. So now he has his dog, Aria. She’s a French Bulldog and just became part of our family. 

Then as my kids started getting older and moving out, my house started having less and less kids in it, and I wanted my own dog because Aria was Jozaya’s dog and she went with him. By that time I fell in love with Frenchies because although they’re hard to train, they’re extremely emotionally intelligent. They can really feel people’s emotions and they have a lot of love and empathy. 

I started researching different names and I always liked the idea of having a dog that’s a small dog but has a big dog’s name, I don’t know why. Apollo is the sun god in Greek culture and the god of creativity and art. I thought, “Oh that’s badass, I’m gonna call him Apollo.” 

So, Apollo’s my dog, and that’s how I ended up getting a Frenchie.

What are you looking forward to in the future?

Well, recently I got engaged to my beautiful fiance, Serene Thin Elk. She’s a strong, intelligent, and beautiful person and I’m looking forward to continuing to build our future together. She’s become my best friend, she supports my work and I get to support hers. While I navigate political and legal repression ahead, I know I have an amazing partner to walk this road with. She is a huge part of my life and healing journey, and I’m excited to share our future together. 

Final Thoughts: 

Anything I’ve ever done is because I love my people, I love my children, I love my family, I love my community and my land. Sometimes people might see me fiercely fighting for those things but I want people to know that I’m fiercely fighting from a place of love, not from a place of hate. I believe my people should be treated good. I believe Mother Earth should be able to exist without being threatened. I’m not afraid to speak up, but I don’t want me speaking up to ever be misinterpreted because I do so from a place of love. And I hope that one day, people can see that.

Over the last seven years, NDN Collective has successfully distributed nearly $110 million to Indigenous communities and organizations across Turtle Island, providing more than 1,500 grants through programs that directly supported more than 1,200 individuals and community-based organizations. NDN Collective trained hundreds of people in organizing nonviolent direct action and built the capacity of communities, tribes, nonprofits to catalyze their communities forward. NDN’s  organizing has successfully mobilized communities to protect the sacred Black Hills from mining and winning freedom for Leonard Peltier. 

As we strategize in response to the threats of this authoritarian administration, we remain rooted in the mission that NDN Collective was founded on. It is more important than ever that we remember not to come from a place of fear but from a place of power, because the solutions we must bring forward have to be greater than the challenges we face. 

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Watch LANDBACK For the People Podcast Season 3 Ep. 0:
A Vision for the Future

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The For The People Campaign is designed to provide critical resources directly to Indigenous communities through our existing grantmaking programs and organizing work to strengthen our movement, enhance the resiliency of frontline actions, and continue making transformative change under this authoritarian administration. 

To learn more or donate, please visit: ndnco.cc/ftpcdonate

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