Wild bergamot, a traditional medicine among Indigenous people of the plains and plateau regions, growing on the North Dakota prairies in July. Photo courtesy of NDN Collective.

For Indigenous Peoples across Turtle Island, the summer season is full of life and activity. It is a time of gathering, a time of ceremony, spending time on the land and waters, harvesting medicines and traditional foods, and also a time of community organizing and building. While the NDN Collective team is fanned out across Indigenous lands doing all of this and so much more, we hope you are also making the most of your summer days.

In this month’s newsletter, we share our latest grant opportunity for Indigenous-led organizations with the Community Self-Determination Grant. We share inspiring insight from an Indigenous father in a Q&A interview with NDN Collective’s very own, Jordan Brien, Creative Director and Anishinaabe musician, as he reflects on what it means to build Indigenous power through fatherhood. We also highlight the NDN Changemaker Showcase— a five-part livestream conversation series that features the 2021 cohort of NDN Changemaker Fellows– as they share insight on the past year of their fellowship. Our Changemaker fellows are brilliant, and it’s been an honor to support them on their journey. We also share NDN Collective’s latest position paper, “The Effects of Overturning Roe v. Wade, Through an Indigenous Lens,” — and much, much more.

Continue reading for MORE Indigenous storytelling, community building, ways to take action, and opportunities to join the NDN Collective team.

Whether it’s protecting land and water, developing sustainable food systems or revitalizing Indigenous languages and lifeways, Community Self-Determination Grants support community priorities on community terms. Grants of up to $100,000 per year, with commitments up to two years, are available to Indigenous-led organizations working in the defense, development, or decolonization of Indigenous Peoples and the planet. The maximum grant award is $200,000 over two years. 

“Community self-determination calls on all of us to think creatively and innovatively, to address root causes of our struggles and design solutions that are shaped by and embraced by our own people, our own communities,” said Gaby Strong, NDN Foundation Managing Director. “It’s an honor to resource our people in this way. This is just the beginning.”

Jordan pictured with his two daughters. Photo Courtesy of Jordan Brien, Creative Director at NDN Collective.

Jordan Brien reminds us that Indigenous fatherhood is more than decolonial— it’s ceremonial. As a loving husband, talented musician, a creative, and above all, an incredible father to two beautiful daughters, Jordan approaches parenting with empathy and understanding. His story of fatherhood ignites hope for a generation of parents who are actively working to break colonial cycles of trauma that have impacted Indigenous families for too long.

“I’m feeling hopeful about getting to reimagine what Indigenous fatherhood can look like. We get to create our own narratives for how we are to show up, and I’m doing that through the lessons of my own experiences in creating a healthy lifestyle for my children. To me, that’s building Indigenous power.” said Jordan Brien, Creative Director for NDN Collective.

PennElys Droz, Program Officer for NDN Foundation, hosts the Decolonize: Part 2 panel. Watch the full Changemaker Showcase on NDN Collective’s YouTube Channel.

The 2022 Changemaker Showcase celebrated 14 Indigenous leaders from across Turtle Island, Puerto Rico, and the Pacific Islands who are radically transforming Indigenous communities by defending Indigenous lands and rights, developing sustainable solutions for the future, and decolonizing their day-to-day lives, their families, communities and Nations. 

The two day event featured the 2021 cohort of NDN Changemaker Fellows, who gathered virtually to engage in multi-part panel conversations, each with distinct focal points in the areas of defending, developing and decolonizing. The showcase also includes musical performances by Mato Wayuhi, Oglala Lakota multidisciplinary artist and composer of the award-winning FX/Hulu series Reservation Dogs, Lyla June, Diné & Tsétsêhéstâhese artist whose internationally acclaimed presentations are conveyed through the medium of poetry, and Mic Jordan, Turtle Mountain Ojibwe musician.

On June 25th the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating the Federal right to abortion and placing our most vulnerable Relatives at further risk and without protections.

“This system is not made by Indigenous people, or for us. It has lost all moral and ethical authority as it wages its power on legal fiction built by white men long dead and gone,” said Janene Yazzie, Southwest Regional Director at NDN Collective. “Today’s decision is yet another piece of evidence that this system is irredeemable.”

Image Powered by NDN Collective.

Authored by various NDN Collective staff members across the organization, The Effects of Overturning Roe v. Wade Through an Indigenous Lens: How Consent, Body Sovereignty, and Self-Determination are the Real Conversation provides historical context for the myriad ways in which Indigenous people have had their consent violated through state violence for generations.

“This paper is important because it was designed by our team to deeply explore the potential harmful and intersectional impacts the decision could have across our Indigenous communities. There are unique ways we must come together in power to protect our rights over our bodies and our rights to privacy. The position paper is an important step towards this unity,” said Kim Pate, NDN Collective Vice President.

Members of the NDN Collective staff who co-authored the newly released position paper, The Effects of Overturning Roe v. Wade Through an Indigenous Lens: How Consent, Body Sovereignty, and Self-Determination are the Real Conversation, gathered in front of the United States Supreme Court to discuss the importance of this paper.

In a 6-to-3 decision in West Virginia v. the Environmental Protection Agency the Supreme Court ruled that the agency overstepped its authority with rules to regulate emissions. This ruling will severely curtail the Environmental Protection Agency’s legal ability to regulate emissions from power plants.

“With this ruling, the illegitimate SCOTUS continues its anti-human warpath,” said Jade Begay, Climate Justice Director at NDN Collective. “This decision will not only halt the Biden-Harris Administration’s climate goals for reducing carbon emissions by 2030, but will also put millions of lives at risk, as the outcome of the decision will further destabilize the climate.”

“We know that Indigenous, Black, and immigrant communities suffer higher levels of pollution exposure – today’s ruling signals to our communities that our health, livelihoods, and future generations are less valuable to SCOTUS than the profits of the extractive industry,” said Michael Johnson, Director of Advancement at NDN Collective. 

Boycott participants in front of the Foothills Inn. Photo by Willi White for NDN Collective.

“We are currently awaiting Connie Uhre’s dispositional hearing – all victims are expecting for her to be charged with a hate crime,” said Sunny Red Bear, Racial Equity Director at NDN Collective. “While the outcome of the hearing is important for the people who were subjected to Connie’s violence, this boycott continues to be bigger than just her racist actions. We’re modeling what accountability looks like in Rapid City and beyond and continuing to invite people into our fight for a world where Indigenous people are respected, listened to, and looked to for solutions.” 

31 men – including several from Rapid City – planning to riot at a Pride celebration in Idaho were arrested, amidst growing threats of violence and heightened discrimination directed toward the LGBTQ2S+ community during Pride Month.

“Anti-queer and trans hate is the product of genocide and colonialism – before white settlers arrived and began to wreak havoc on our people, Indigenous communities embraced our LGBTQIA2S+ community members. Now more than ever, Indigenous queer people need our allies to commit to learning our history and join our current fights. We need people to seek to understand and celebrate us, and to protect us from those who wish us harm,” said Steph Viera, they/them, NDN Collective Social Media Manager.

On April 30th NDN Collective launched the Collective Abundance Fund survey as a means of seeking community feedback on disbursement of $50 million in grant monies to Indigenous individuals and families within the tri-state area.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting touched base with Terri Peterson, NDN Program Manager for the Collective Abundance Fund, to share more about the survey and #redefiningwealth on Indigenous terms.

Lorenzo Serna, NDN Collective Director of Tactical Media. Photo By Steph Viera for NDN Collective.

On Saturday July 2nd NDN Collective went LIVE at the 155th Annual Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Wacipi (pow-wow) located at the Agency Village Ceremonial Grounds in Sisseton, South Dakota as part of the Collective Abundance Fund’s Community Engagement efforts. The gathering kicked off that day and continued through July 4th.

Host, Sarah Manning, NDN Collective Director of Communications, touched base with the Collective Abundance outreach team and their continued efforts to meet with Indigenous individuals and families across the tristate area around what wealth means to them and guiding them through the Collective Abundance Fund Survey.

On Tuesday, July 18th NDN Collective went LIVE in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. as numerous civilians and public officials gathered to demand reproductive healthcare access in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Dozens of individuals were detained, cited and released.

This action was led by CPD Action and comes on the heels of NDN Collective’s recently released position paper, The Effects of Overturning Roe v. Wade through and Indigenous Lens.

Land defenders during the 2020 July 3rd action defending the Black Hills. Photo by Arlo Iron Cloud.

Last month the illegitimate and corrupt SCOTUS made a decision that will limit the EPA’s ability to regulate emissions from power plants. Power plants are the country’s 2nd largest polluters and are often unjustly located near BIPOC communities. So what do we do now?

Reporting to the Director of People, Culture, and Belonging, the Healing Justice Coordinator will be responsible for cultivating the healing justice programming across the NDN eco-system.

The Associate Director of NDN Action provides support to the Managing Director of NDN Action and the overall action team. They will oversee and expand NDN Action’s Indigenous rights and policy advocacy operations, programs, and services.

The Project Manager is directly responsible for organizing, supervising, scheduling & planning of multiple internal construction and development projects to maximize cost efficiency and motivate contractors to complete each project assigned on time and under budget.

With special attention to rapid response and tactical media, the Tactical Media Associate works across a host of disciplines and platforms, including livestream video productions, post-production on videos, on-the-ground event coverage, and copywriting.

The Social Media Manager administers NDN Collective social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and LinkedIn. Primary responsibilities include leading the Social Media Team, building a dynamic social media strategy that maintains the vision and mission of NDN Collective while building Indigenous power.

With special attention to media strategy, narrative and copy editing, the Deputy Director of Communications  works across a host of disciplines and platforms, including email, social media, blogs, website, and management of internal and external communications systems.

The Executive Assistant to the President & CEO provides services essential to the mission of the organization and the day-to-day operations of the President’s Office. This position also provides support to the organization’s Board of Directors.

The Racial Equity Organizer engages and mobilizes the public and coalition partners on racial equity and other priority issues, coordinates volunteer events, builds community conversation and oversees outreach efforts.

The Finance Technician performs a variety of technical, and administrative financial support duties in the financial activities of the organization.

The Vice President provides leadership and oversight for Operations, Advancement, Finance, Human Resources, Legal and Compliance, Communications, Fiscal Sponsorship and Research and Evaluation functions at NDN Collective.

The Media & Public Relations Officer acts as the primacy media contact for the NDN Collective ecosystem and the President & CEO, creating and managing communications and messaging that shape public opinion and increase awareness of the NDN brand.

The Research and Evaluation Manager will contribute to NDN Collective’s overall success by supporting research and evaluation efforts to understand and continuously evolve how the NDN Collective ecosystem of organizations drives social change.

Reporting to the Director of Finance, the Controller contributes to NDN Collective’s overall success by effectively overseeing the day-to-day financial activities for the NDN Ecosystem including accounts receivable, accounts payable, and payroll.

The Director of Policy and Advocacy will provide leadership for our public policy and advocacy work, working collaboratively with our Political Director, NDN Collective ecosystem of organizations, board of directors, and contract lobbyists.