Creating Indigenous Spaces in the 21st Century

The work that the Democracy is Indigenous cohort undertakes is meant to highlight how the urban Native perspective can define the future of this country through electoral work. To truly make these victories we achieve permeant, the DII Cohort is continuing our Thriving Cities event series, which helps close the circle of how our political organizing impacts the communities that we live in and how this coalition can be a driving force for improvement by having conversations and events that center the needs of our people.

This year, we will be hosting a slew of different community engagement events during the month of September. This series challenges the idea that odd years are times when civic engagement slows down and instead puts our communities front and center while talking with elected officials and community leaders about how we can work together to strengthen the urban Native community.

This series of speaking events is the evolution of our civic engagement work, by bringing officials from around the political spectrum together to engage in conversations about the biggest issues facing our communities.

By growing our work from 2021, which featured conversations with a sitting US Senator, the Minnesota Lt. Governor, state legislators, city mayors, non-profit leaders, and many other local elected positions, we know we expand our civic engagement work into something beyond just getting out the vote. These events are led by each organization, which has deep community roots that they’ve built up from years of working and supporting the urban Native population in their cities. This work on the frontlines has made these organizations the ideal champions for their community, as they’re able to articulate and inform leaders about challenges and discuss facing the urban Indian population.

Want to know the specifics of each Thriving City event? We covered the events with full stories and recaps that you can find below.