Graphic by JayCee Beyale for NDN Collective.

The Fall season is upon us and signals us to prepare for the shifting seasons ahead. At NDN Collective, Fall also signals a time of reflection, strategizing, and organizing forward for the people.
We know that the times we are in require us to be bold, fierce, and unapologetic in our tactics and strategies, and we stay committed to doing the work for all people and Mother Earth with this same spirit.

From rematriating wealth to frontline communities, to building up the LANDBACK movement, and amplifying the voices of our people, we are honored to carry this work forward. To keep this critical work going, we need your support. In this month’s newsletter, we’ve included several ways for you to take action– from protecting Pe’Sla from exploratory drilling, to advocating for NDN Collective’s Founder & CEO Nick Tilsen as he faces a legal battle ahead, to advancing the return of the Black Hills to the Oceti Sakowin. Your support is invaluable.

The Chugach Regional Resources Commission stands outside the Alutiiq Pride Marine Institute in Alaska. CRRC recently closed a LANDBACK loan through the NDN Fund, transferring ownership of the land to the commission and supporting the expansion of their hatchery. Photo courtesy of Aurora Warrior for NDN Collective.

NDN Fund, the impact investing arm of NDN Collective, today announced the closing of a LANDBACK loan with the Chugach Regional Resources Commission (CRRC) – an inter-tribal fish and wildlife commission authorized as a tribal consortium 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The loan from NDN Fund allows CRRC to own the 1.52 acres the organization’s current building sits on, as well as to expand their facility and programming…continue reading.

On August 22, NDN Collective released the 2024 Impact Report, “Working For The People.” This report includes highlights from the organization in 2024 including how we distributed $26.9M in funding to Indigenous grantees, supported twelve Indigenous-owned businesses, and successfully organized for the release of Leonard Peltier…continue reading.

In recent months, amidst an unstable socio-political landscape, NDN Collective has undergone an organizational overhaul and made major programmatic shifts. These shifts include staff layoffs and overall changes in programming. Leadership at NDN Collective released this blog to share more about this shift…continue reading. 

It’s official– the NDN Store is live! Order your LANDBACK swag today. 
The NDN Store was created as a resource to distribute materials to frontline organizers and offer unique designs that speak to the power, struggles, and resiliency of Indigenous Peoples.

On August 7th, the Resourcing team closed out the 2025 cycle of the Community Action Fund after successfully rematriating over $250,000 USD to support 14 Indigenous-led efforts across Turtle Island. We received 89 applications for the Community Action Fund this year and funded 7 efforts in the United States, 3 in Canada, and 4 in Mexico. Their work included organizing community wildfire brigades in rural Mexico, art-builds to resist pipeline development in Canada, protecting sacred forests through blockades in California and Washington, awareness efforts for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP), and providing legal rights education for migrant and Indigenous communities.

We also want to uplift and thank our internal staff review team, who reviewed CAF applications on a weekly basis throughout 2025. We are proud of the impact this fund continues to make in supporting frontline communities.

NDN Collective will be hosting an Indigenous Peoples’ Day March and FREE Concert in Mni Luzahan (Rapid City, SD) on Monday, October 13, 2025. 

There will be food and art vendors available throughout the day.  Join us for a day of music, dance, delicious food, traditional artwork, and good energy. Join us for a day of political education, cultural celebration, and community action – building hope and power together for a liberated future.

LANDBACK logo pictured in the NDN Podcast studio. Photo by Angel White Eyes for NDN Collective.

Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective CEO and Founder, sits down with Amy Sauze, Remembering the Children’s Executive Director, and Dr. Valeriah Big Eagle, Director of He Sapa Initiatives for NDN Collective, to talk about LANDBACK’s relationship to healing intergenerational trauma. 

Does giving Indigenous communities stewardship rights to the land, but not ownership, truly count as Land Back? Continue reading to find out.

Like many other nonprofit organizations across Indian Country, the Rapid City-based NDN Collective has taken a major blow in funding. Despite these setbacks, it isn’t going anywhere, said founder Nick Tilsen…continue reading. 

The Rapid City-based organization, NDN Collective, announced that it has “undergone an organizational overhaul,” which includes paring down its staff and activities. Founder and CEO Nick Tilsen, a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, told Buffalo’s Fire that NDN Collective started the year with 99 staff members and $50 million in funds….continue reading.

Nick Tilsen, Founder & CEO of NDN Collective, addresses community supporters during his evidentiary hearing in Rapid City, SD. Photo by Willi White for NDN Collective.

We need your help to secure Nick Tilsen’s freedom and ensure the upcoming evidentiary hearing doesn’t go to trial. 
Here are a few ways you can support Nick Tilsen and NDN Collective:
1. Sign this Petition (& encourage others to sign)
2. Donate to the NDN Legal Fund
3. Call or email the Pennington County States Attorney’s office asking them to drop the charges: Phone: (605) 394-2191 OR Email: [email protected] and [email protected]
4. Share this information with a friend or on social media to bring attention to the injustices happening in South Dakota

Pete Lien & Sons recently proposed a project that would involve exploratory drilling for graphite within the protected boundaries of Pe’sla, a sacred site which has been used for ceremonial gatherings of Lakota, Dakota, and other nations for thousands of years. This project will also threaten the Rapid Creek Watershed and the underground water sources in the area.

Reach out to South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden and ask him to intervene and put a stop to the Rochford Mineral Exploratory Drilling project for the sake of the public good.

Graphic Art by JayCee Beyale.

For generations, Indigenous Peoples have been preparing for this moment. NDN Collective has built power through grantmaking, storytelling, frontline action, and sustainable investing.

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.