Indigenous youth join the picket line during the boycott activities organized by the NDN Collective racial equity team.

In this first month of summer, relatives are coming together all across Turtle Island for cultural gatherings, for ceremony, for community organizing, and taking time for much-needed rest. June also signifies Pride Month, a calendared celebration of our 2SLGBTQIA+ and Queer relatives– a community historically honored among Indigenous cultures from throughout Turtle Island, yet vehemently under attack today in a multitude of ways. To support our Queer relatives, we must first understand the power that lies in the collective care that must be shown every single day for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. This month and every month, we must commit to a deep exploration of what showing up for our all of our relations truly means.

In this month’s newsletter, we share updates on the past month of community organizing, including new content on the ongoing work to combat systemic racism in Rapid City, collaborative mutual aid efforts to support relatives impacted by wildfires raging in New Mexico, and numerous ways that the NDN Collective team is out in community in the spirit of justice and equity for all people and the planet. Finally, we share a number of ways that you can take action, and several exciting career opportunities with NDN Collective.

NDN Collective’s Climate Justice Campaign joined with the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women to distribute dozens of air filters for those impacted by the wildfires in New Mexico. The wildfires have been raging for over a month, spurred by unprecedented winds and drought which have consumed nearly 237,000 acres so far.

“It took two weeks for the POTUS to declare these fires as a major disaster and to order federal aid to be directed to affected communities,” said Jade Begay, director of Climate Justice at NDN Collective. “Residents will have to wait weeks, if not longer, to receive support from FEMA. Further, FEMA application processes are often inaccessible and wonky for people to navigate, especially during a time of crisis.

June is the national month for Pride across Turtle Island, and although the moments of gathering and celebration are joyous for many, it’s important to continue to emphasize the power and intention behind Pride as well as remembering the sacredness of our 2SLGBTQIA+ relatives year-round. When we forget or cease to learn the historical facets around the origins of Pride as an act of resistance, we fail to recognize the present-day struggles that are a continuation of cis-heteronormative structures that too often inflict violence on, remove protections for, and erase our Queer family– youth, adults and elders alike. 

With over 240+ bills targeting -2SLGBTQIA+ rights just in 2022, it is critical that our Indigenous communities as a whole continue to educate ourselves so that we remain in positions to advocate and resist alongside and for our Queer relatives ultimately for the health, wellbeing, safety and happiness of our Indigenous communities overall. We must and can return to a place of consistently honoring and uplifting our sacred relatives as we have done traditionally in our families, circles and greater communities.

▪️National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network
▪️LGBTQ Psychotherapists of Color
▪️AYANA Therapy
▪️Therapy for Queer People of Color
▪️Paths (Re)membered Project |NO COST Mental Health Services for Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer 2SLGBTQ+ persons aged 15+ (Services are currently offered in limited states (OR, WA, ID, ND, TX, NM).
▪️Sign-up to attend the virtual LGBTQIA2S+ Talking Circle Facilitated by Steph Viera (they/them), NDN’s Social Media Manager, and hosted by the International Indigenous Youth Council, Los Angeles, CA chapter. The Talking Circle is open to LGBTQ+, 2-Spirit, Non-binary and Gener Non-Conforming folx.

▪️them | What does “Two-Spirit” mean?
▪️Vice | Two-Spirit People Are Reclaiming Their Land – And Their Identity | Transnational
▪️Tribal Equity Toolkit 3.0 | Tribal Resolutions and Codes to Support Two-Spirit & LGBTQ Justice in Indian Country
▪️Paths Remembered | Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ Pride Toolkits for Community and Clinical Spaces
PFLAG | the first and largest organization dedicated to supporting, educating, and advocating for LGBTQ+ people and their families
▪️Stand With Trans

“In recognizing the growing commodification of the rainbow, it’s worth pausing and reflecting on how, in the absence of a rainbow, we as 2SLGBT+ community members can feel free to exist and reclaim this time of celebration, reminding those hell-bent on enmeshing our existence with the ills of capitalism that we won’t be commodified or erased. And that the safety attached to this symbolism that so many of us in the Queer community feel we have no choice but to embrace, is in actuality, a societal failure in helping us to feel safe, wherever we are, as we are.”

NDN Collective held a light projection action at the Grand Gateway Hotel to bring more visibility to the group’s boycott of the ​​Grand Gateway Hotel, Foothills Inn, and Uhre Realty and demands for change. In addition, a number of local businesses have made pledges condemning racism and expressing pride to serve Indigenous people.

“Today marks the middle of the fifth week of boycotting the Grand Gateway Hotel and other Uhre family businesses,” said Sunny Red Bear, racial equity director at NDN Collective. “We continue to gain support from our community in various ways and find ourselves amazed at the solidarity expressed during our picketing lines! 

“We love our community, we love our people – and because of that love, we won’t back down until Rapid City creates concrete consequences for any businesses that have racist practices and policies.”

Voice of America | Native Americans Confront Racism in South Dakota
KOTA Radio | Boycott, Demonstrations in Front of Grand Gateway Enter Second Month

Grand Gateway Hotel owner Connie Uhre stepped out of her vehicle and began spraying boycotters with what appears to be some type of cleaning product.

On Friday June 27, Connie Uhre, owner of the Grand Gateway Hotel, approached boycotters and sprayed Sunny Red Bear, director of racial equity at NDN Collective, directly in the face with a cleaning product.

The boycott, which NDN Collective has been leading three times a week for the last two months, is in response to the owner of the hotel publicly stating they would ban all Native Americans from their businesses following a tragic shooting that occurred on the Grand Gateway Hotel property on the morning of Saturday, March 19. According to owner Connie Uhre, she couldn’t tell who was a “good Native” or “bad Native,” therefore, all Native Americans would be banned.

Rapid City Journal | BREAKING: Grand Gateway Hotel Owner Arrested on 3 Counts of Assault
Native News Online | Rapid City Hotel Owner Arrested Following Altercation with Native American Protestors
KEVN/KOTA Radio | Rapid City Hotel Owner Arrested Following Clash with Native American Protesters

Steph Viera (they/them), NDN Collective’s Social Media Manager, will be facilitating an LGBTQIA2S Talking Circle for the International Indigenous Youth Council, Los Angeles, on June 29th from 6-8pm PST via Zoom. 

The LGBTQIA2S+ Talking Circle with International Indigenous Youth Council – Los Angeles is recurring space that is rooted in expansive perceptions of gender beyond the colonial binary open to LGBTQ+, 2 Spirit, Non-binary, and Gender Non-conforming folx. IIYCLA also offers recurring Masculine & Feminine talking circles online via Zoom for community members to join.

The Talking Circle is open to LGBTQ+, 2-Spirit, Non-binary and Gener Non-Conforming folx.

Jade Begay, NDN Collective Climate Justice Director, joins New York Times journalists and leading experts as they share their visions for an equitable, climate-resilient future. Closing the Gap on Climate Inequality is a virtual event happening June 23, 2022.

NDN Collective’s LANDBACK Team was recently featured on an episode of the Electronic Entifada Podcast. Hosted by Nora Barrows-Friedman the team discussed their recently released position paper on Palestinian liberation, “The Right of Return is LANDBACK”

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

On Saturday May 28, 2022 Lorenzo attended the Four Bear Pow Wow in New Town, North Dakota with NDN Collective Director of Communications, Sarah Manning, to share live coverage of the Collective Abundance Fund’s community engagement efforts. 

NDN Collective staff, in collaboration with Kauffmann & Associates, had a booth set up meeting with Indigenous individuals and families- inviting them to take the Collective Abundance Fund Survey. The survey will help to redefine wealth on Indigenous terms and help redistribute nearly $50 million to Native individuals and families across Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota beginning in early 2023; this is expected to occur over a four year period.

“As we continue to escalate and put pressure on businesses that continue to practice racism in big and small ways, we want the community to understand that this doesn’t just stop here, but that we are going to continue to address systemic racism in this city, on all levels,” said Red Bear. “This is really just the beginning.”

Options to support include writing online reviews, phone banking, writing letters, and showing up on the picket line.

On April 30, NDN Collective launched the Collective Abundance Fund survey – a community engagement tool being utilized to redefine wealth on Indigenous terms and help redistribute nearly $50 million to Native individuals and families across Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota beginning in early 2023; this is expected to occur over a four year period.

Indigenous individuals living in SD, ND or MN are welcomed to take the Collective Abundance Fund survey.

Over 100 anti-trans bills were introduced in state legislatures nationwide in 2021 – and even more have been filed this year.

“State lawmakers are continuing to introduce wave after wave of these cruel measures – banning trans kids from school sports, denying access to gender-affirming medical care, and even unlawfully threatening to remove adolescents from loving homes solely for having parents who love and affirm them.

In response to the over 100 anti-trans bills filed in states across the country – the ACLU is working to rally 100,000 people pledging and showing support for trans youth everywhere.”

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 Administrative Associate duties and responsibilities include providing administrative support to the President & CEO and Executive Assistant to the President & CEO. This position will ensure efficient operation of the President’s office on a daily basis.

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 Advancement Coordinator will be part of a team of NDN staff and consultants to ensure we reach our fundraising goals each year, ensuring the organization is financially resourced to carry out our mission and goals.

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.