NUIFC Story // Thriving Cities: Celebrating Around The Country
Celebrating Thriving Cities in North Dakota, Texas, and Minneapolis
The National Urban Indian Family Coalition believes in the power of holding politicians accountable and giving the community a chance to lead the discussions on the biggest issues facing urban Indian America. To highlight this, the NUIFC is thrilled to bring you dispatches from around the country to celebrate the conclusion of our Thriving Cities: Indigenous Spaces in the 21st Century series. In this next installment, we will visit three different cities and explore how they each centered the voices of the urban Native community to produce fruitful conversations with elected officials, community leaders, and more.
Sacred Pipe Resource Center
North Dakota State Legislator Ruth Buffalo and Cheryl Ann Kary, Executive Director
Starting in North Dakota, the Sacred Pipe Resource Center held a multiday event to discuss the realities facing the Native American community in the state. The event provided the Native people from the Fargo, Mandan, and Grand Forks area a chance to have their concerns and needs placed front and center. The event also connected people with others that live in tribal areas and facilitated discussions about their shared goals and ideas on how to build power with one another.
The event was attended by a series of different speakers and presenters, including American Indian OIC’s President & CEO Joe Hobot, the NUIFC’s Executive Director, Janeen Comenote, North Dakota State Legislator Ruth Buffalo, and Elected Tribal Officials Fred Fox and Warren Hawk. They joined other non-profit leaders, organizers, activists, and people interested in learning and discussing how to strengthen the Native American community in North Dakota.
“We sometimes feel isolated up here in North Dakota,” said Cheryl Ann Kary, the Executive Director of Sacred Pipe Resource Center. “People hadn’t heard of some of the organizations or the work that was being done. Being able to highlight and encourage people to get involved in this advocacy work was an amazing experience.”
For those that attended, they were able to learn about projects and work in their own communities and the advocacy and changes being made at the national level. The grandness and scope of the conversation are what made this Thriving City event one to remember, one that would allow people to leave empowered and focused on what was possible to build a stronger community.
Americans Indians in Texas – Spanish Colonial Missions
Karla Aguilar, host and organizer the event
Bringing the Thriving City series into the digital space, American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions (AIT-SCM) held a digital town hall across their social media channels. This event provided a data breakdown of the American Indian population in the San Antonio metropolitan area and beyond to highlight the work needed to be done to support the community.
The nearly 90-minute presentation also featured interviews with officials, questions, and answers from the community, and a chance to have an in-depth look at some of the most pressing issues in the area. Due to the wide range of topics, the event succeeded in drawing a unique audience and helping connect community stakeholders with those in power.
In attendance, AIT-SCM was joined by different elected officials, including state legislators, city council members, members of the Bexar County Executive and Judicial branches, and more. The wide range of guests each was able to find useful information for their specific issues during this event.
“Having this degree of visibility among local leaders is an excellent expression of the work that is being done here in San Antonio and around the country,” said Karla Aguilar, who hosted and organized the event.
You can watch the full event for yourself on AIT-SCM’s YouTube Channel
Native American Community Development Institute & American Indian OIC
Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan (White Earth Band of Ojibwe) and the Executive Director of Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition, Nicole Matthews
In Minneapolis, we saw American Indian OIC and the Native American Community Development Institute provide the community with a special opportunity to speak and engage with some of the brightest leaders in Indian Country. For their “Stepping Into the Circle” event, they were joined by Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan (White Earth Band of Ojibwe) and the Executive Director of Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition, Nicole Matthews.
The conversation was wide-ranging but took a particular focus on the alarming statistics around sexual violence and the epidemic of murdered and missing indigenous women in the country. They discussed how the issue is systemic, how resources must be committed to fixing this problem, and how they will all continue to do everything they can to help the Native community with this issue.
“It’s our job to do as much good as we can, with what we have,” said Flanagan, while discussing the work she was doing while being in Minnesota’s Executive branch.
Like so many parts of the Thriving Cities series, this event focused on both the issues facing the community and how we can solve those challenges. Both Flanagan and Matthews spoke extensively about their work and why it made a difference in the lives of so many.
You can watch the full event for yourself on NACDI’s Facebook page.