SPRING 2019 FEATURES

Telling Our Own Stories

Warrior Women

Youth Perspective

Empowerment through Social MediaCohort 8 Rebuilder Jacob Davis (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians) harnesses the power of social media to get things done. As the Tribal Programming Director for Prevent Child Abuse North Dakota (PCAND), he uses digital advocacy tools to build a network of supporters with a shared vision for improving the lives of Indigenous people. Jacob explains, “Social media is essential in the digital world and provides us with an access point to create conversations within a large population of people.”In 2016, PCAND offered Jacob the chance to create a new position within the organization. He developed a position focused on providing Indigenous families with community-driven resources. As Tribal Programming Director, he works with three of the four Native nations in North Dakota to empower Indigenous children, families, and communities to thrive. Jacob sees interconnections between his specific focus area and broader issues, including food sovereignty, economic development, and trauma. As such, he

appreciates that his work allows him to incorporate several of his passions into his day-to-day responsibilities and online advocacy campaigns. He also believes strongly in the need for the presence of Native voices in the social media realm; initiatives succeed when Indigenous voices tell Indigenous stories. “To give a story justice, it has to be shared from a personal perspective,” Jacob states. “In order to bring truth to the message, it has to come from the voice of the people that it impacts.”Jacob is a skilled digital communicator, but his work does not come without challenges. He admits that he oftentimes encounters “crabs in the bucket”-type lateral violence in online spaces. This happens when individuals direct attacks toward fellow community members working toward the same goal, rather than at the actual source of their oppression. Jacob notes, “Creating messages that cannot being taken out of context has been the hardest part of utilizing social media. Being aware of the potential for lateral violence has to be a critical part of the process.” Despite these challenges, Jacob has hope for the future of the digital world. He encourages young people to use social media to highlight their accomplishments and struggles. This can help them gain

experience with best practices for navigating the exciting, yet challenging, social media realm. In addition, he urges young people to seek out support and guidance for when the going gets tough: “Please know that surrounding yourself with people that believe in you is the most important building block of success.”

Jacob Davis, Cohort 8 Rebuilder

Supporting Tribes. Empowering Leaders.

Native GovernanceNEWS

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Board of DirectorsTwyla Baker (Mandan, Hidatsa, & Arikara

Nation)Rochelle Diver (Fond du Lac Band of Lake

Superior Chippewa)Frank Ettawageshik (Little Traverse Bay

Bands of Odawa Indians)Tadd Johnson (Bois Forte Band of

Chippewa)Dr. Joe Kalt, SecretaryCris Stainbrook (Oglala Lakota), ChairTracey Zephier (Cheyenne River Sioux

Tribe), Treasurer

StaffWayne Ducheneaux II, Executive DirectorJayme Davis, Program DirectorApryl Deel-McKenzie, Program ManagerLisa Giefer, Operations CoordinatorLauren Kramer, Development ManagerJane Townsend, Development DirectorPearl Walker-Swaney, Program Manager

60 Plato Blvd. E, STE 400St. Paul, MN 55107-1832651-571-0826hello@nativegov.orgnativegov.org

Sovereignty MattersOur mission is to assist Tribal nations in strengthening their governance systems and capacity to exercise their sovereignty.

A powerful movement to enact positive narrative change, led by and for Native people, is unfolding here in Minnesota. The movement aims to replace inaccurate stereotypes often perpetuated about Native Americans with a new narrative centered on Native culture and history. It’s a narrative that’s capable of creating transformative change to amplify the strength of Native communities, across our state and beyond. As a form of discrimination, invisibility creates a void that audiences fill with misconceptions. When Native people do appear in media, pop culture, or educational curricula, they’re almost always portrayed through problematic lenses. In 2016, a group of Native researchers set out to address the problem of invisibility by launching Reclaiming Native Truth. Reclaiming Native Truth is the largest Native-focused public opinion project ever completed to date. By quantifying truths that Native people have known since colonization, the project equips our communities with valuable tools to use in the fight for narrative justice. In an effort to share the results of this valuable research with the Minnesota Native community, we partnered with IllumiNative and the McKnight Foundation to host a two-day convening in March 2019. The event, “We Are Still Here — Minnesota,” brought together Native leaders from the governance/policy, philanthropic, education, pop culture, and media sectors to share ideas and develop solutions for narrative change.

“We Are Still Here” attendees reported that the event left them feeling energized and ready to start working for change in their respective fields. Whether you’re a Native activist or an ally, I encourage you to learn more about Reclaiming Native Truth and how you can take action to positively impact your local community.In the spirit of narrative change, I’m pleased to present our spring 2019 newsletter, which is focused on Native media. As Native people, it’s so important for us to tell our own stories. I hope this issue inspires you to seek out and support Native-led media outlets and initiatives.

Update from Our Executive Director

Wayne Ducheneaux II, Executive Director

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“Media tells us who we are as individuals, as people, as Native people. It teaches us how to respond to the world around us.”

– Director/Producer Missy Whiteman

Warrior Women, a film directed by Christina King (Seminole) and Elizabeth Castle (Pekowi Band of Shawnee), provides an intimate look into the struggle for Native rights during the American Indian Movement and beyond. Weaving together narratives provided by the powerful mother-daughter duo Madonna Thunderhawk and Marcella Gilbert, Warrior Women documents the key role that Native women have played—and continue to play—in Indigenous-led activist movements. On March 1, 2019, Warrior Women premiered in Minneapolis as part of INDIgenesis: GEN2, a four-week Native film series, which was held by The Walker Art Center in partnership with director/producer Missy Whiteman (Northern Arapaho and Kickapoo). Missy curated the series with the goal of supporting Native directors and reshaping Native representations in film. She explains, “We specifically want to support Native directors. And tell stories that really show what our successes are in Indian Country. Because film can also tell this story, this narrative, of, you know, you’re desolate, you’re drunk, you’re all of these negative things. And there’s a savior that at some point comes in. Instead of us saving ourselves. That’s really the narrative we need to start telling.” As part of her curation, Missy worked to make INDIgenesis accessible to the Minneapolis American Indian communit. To illustrate, she arranged free childcare and shuttle busses from the American Indian corridor during the Warrior Women screening. Native Governance Center first developed a partnership with Missy Whiteman back in fall 2018: we collaborated with her to produce a series of shorts for broadcast on TPT -- Twin Cities PBS. This partnership led us to host a reception prior to the Warrior Women screening to honor Marcella Gilbert, Madonna Thunderhawk, and other Native women activists featured in the film. The reception held special significance to us because Marcella is a Cohort 5 Native Nation Rebuilder. Missy said the following about the Warrior Women reception and screening: “That night to me was so powerful—it was so successful. I look back, and that’s really where I thought people felt included. It felt like, this is for Native women. And for women. And families. Everyone walked away feeling like they learned something, and now they belonged to something.” The women of Warrior Women have made incredible contributions to the nation building movement, and we are honored to help celebrate them.

Celebrating Warrior Women

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Native Governance Center has been busy the past few months. Here are just a few of the things we've been working on!

Youth Rebuilders ExpansionWe launched our Youth Rebuilders program in 2018, and due to the success of our pilot year, we're starting a youth-centered strategic planning process to determine the best route for expansion.

Rebuilders ProgramWe've reached the tenth year of our flagship leadership program, and in order to ensure that the content remains relevant and engaging for participants, we've started a curriculum redesign project with the University of Minnesota Duluth's American Indian Studies Department.

Tribal Leader OrientationIn January 2019, we hosted Tribal leaders from across the region at Blandin Foundation in Grand Rapids, MN for a learning session on nation

building, leadership strategies, and digital communication tools and skills.

Constitution ReformWe're working with Prairie Island Indian Community, providing them with support and resources as they engage their nation around constitution reform.

International Women's DayWe partnered with the University of Minnesota Humphrey School and the Tiwahe Foundation to host an International Women's Day celebration focused on Indigenous women leaders.

Insights FacilitationJayme Davis, our Program Director, is a certified Insights Facilitator and has been providing Insights facilitation workshops for Tribal leaders, administrative staff, and workplaces.

RES 2019Our program team attended RES 2019 in March and made lots of great connections, discovered many new useful resources, and enjoyed the warmer weather!

What We're Working On

Follow us for news & updates!

@NativeGov

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Cohort 9 Rebuilder Cante Heart (Rosebud Sioux Tribe) hopes to get elected to the Rapid City Council in June. She joins four other Native women running for municipal office in Rapid City—an unprecedented number. We sat down with Cante to learn more about her candidacy, what inspires her, and her motivation for seeking public office.

Native Governance Center: Give us a little information on your background, family, and community. Cante Heart: I was raised by a strong Lakota woman. She taught me to always try to help my people in any kind of way possible. Even though I didn’t grow up on the reservation, I was always thinking of ways I could do this. Early on, I was instilled with Lakota values. And we kind of moved around a little bit, but Rapid City and South Dakota have always been home to me. NGC: Tell us about your candidacy for Rapid City Council (District 5). What inspired you to run?CH: I’ve always wanted to run, and I’ve always wanted to be a leader for my community. So, what started it is, I wanted to inspire my community to get involved as far as voting, as far as stepping up into leadership positions. And I felt that if the younger generation could see a familiar face, or, you know, could identify with me, then it’d inspire them to get involved, too. And so, basically, I’m doing it for the up-and-coming leaders who need to be recognized and need to be taken seriously, too.

NGC: Why do you feel it’s important to have Native representation in local governments? CH: It’s important to make running for office and running for leadership positions the new norm for our people. And also, to make voting the new norm. Because we’re the original inhabitants of this land, so we should also have a say in what goes on to shape the future of our community--whether it’s municipal, or statewide, or on a national level. Our population makes up at least a fourth of the city, and every year we bring in so much revenue due to the events that go on, like the Black Hills Powwow and Lakota Nation Invitational. You know, there are all of these surrounding reservations that do their shopping in Rapid City. It’s been home to us forever. Our representation on city council needs to reflect our population. So if our population is ¼ Native, then our city council needs to be, too. NGC: What advice do you have for other Native women running for public office?

CH: I think they should do what’s in their heart. And to not let anyone’s opinions bring you down. Because if your mind is in it and your heart is in it, then you can never lose. Our ancestors are behind you 100%, and to never take no for an answer. If you have the heart to do it, and the inspiration and the support, you can do anything. NGC: Do you see any intersections between the Rebuilders program curriculum and your candidacy?CH: I definitely get most of my inspiration from my Rebuilder family! They inspire me because of everything they’re doing in the community. They set the tone for being a leader. I think the Native Nation Rebuilders leadership program was a huge inspiration, and it’s kind of the foundation that made me want to run.

Rebuilder Cante Heart’s Historic Campaign for Rapid City Council

Cante Heart, Cohort 9 Rebuilder

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Cohort 7 Rebuilder Vi Waln (Sicangu Lakota) is Editor-In-Chief for the Lakota Times, an award-winning, Native-owned newspaper that operates out of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. We interviewed Vi to learn more about her role with the Lakota Times and her advocacy for more Native voices in the media.

Native Governance Center: Tell us a little bit about your background, family, and community.Vi Waln: I am a Sicangu Lakota Tribal citizen, otherwise known as the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. I grew up on the Rosebud Reservation here in South Dakota. Today, I live in the He Dog community where I was raised. My community is named after Chief He Dog. I have a bachelor’s degree in Lakota Studies from Sinte Gleska University and a Master’s in Mass

Communication from South Dakota State University. NGC: What makes the Lakota Times stand out from other media outlets?VW: The Lakota Times has been in circulation for fifteen years. I think we stand out because the majority of our writers are Lakota. Our main focus with the paper is our young people. And we try to showcase them as much as we can every week. Connie Smith, the paper’s owner, and I have had conversations about how we want this newspaper to be positive. And we’ve taken criticism for it. But we will run the positive stories before the negative stories. Because you could pick up any paper in the country and read all about the negative things happening. You can look on the internet and see all the negative news. Go on social media, look on TV—the majority of it is bad. So we want to focus on positive things. NGC: Why do you believe it’s important to have Native representation in the media?

VW: Well, I believe we have to tell our own stories as Native people. Most of our Tribes come from an oral tradition ancestry. But we have to be willing to evolve with the times. I see many non-Indian journalists out there attempting to write about the Lakota. And when I call them out on it—sometimes, they’re offended when I tell them that a Native person should be writing those stories. But, I continue to advocate for Native writers to write our stories. We’re the only ones who can offer a true perspective on our communities. NGC: Do you see a link between your current work and nation building? VW: My work is definitely linked to nation building. Columns I write every week address issues that our people are facing on our reservations. So, I always come to the computer thinking, if I can affect change through my writing, then all my hard work has paid off. If one person changes their behavior for the good after reading a column I wrote, then I believe that’s nation building.

Telling Our Own Stories: Rebuilder Vi Waln

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nativegov.org.Vi Waln, Cohort 7 Rebuilder; Editor-In-Chief, Lakota Times

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60 Plato Blvd E, STE 400St. Paul, MN 55107651-571-0826hello@nativegov.org

Sovereignty Matters

Save the Date!Save the Date for our 2019

Nation Building Celebration!Join us at Mystic Lake Center on

August 15, 2019 to celebrate successful nation building initiatives! New this year, attend a special networking

reception to connect with leaders from across Indian Country. If you’ll be in town for the 2019 Wacipi (Shakopee

Mdewakanton Sioux Community powwow), you won’t want to miss this

event!

Stay tuned for more details. Registration and agenda information coming soon!

Colten Birkland is the Vice Chair of the Turtle Mountain Youth Council. He participated in the pilot year of our Youth Rebuilders program during summer 2018.

Having Native youth in media is more important than you may know. There are many Native youth across Native nations who feel like their voices will never be heard, or their ideas don’t matter. Through social media, I have found a way to share my voice, and I could not be more grateful. As a Native youth leader in my community, media has given me an outlet to share my experiences and accomplishments with my Tribe. It has allowed me to shed light on the amazing things that do happen on my reservation. There are countless times where youth have asked questions that I have been able to answer through media, giving them a voice to be heard. I am forever grateful for the opportunity and voice I have been given through media.

Youth Perspective: Colten Birkland