Services

Have you ever wondered about the history of the land that you are on? Do you understand the impacts of colonialism on the land and Native Nations? Do you want to do more than just acknowledge the land? This workshop gives you a history of Federal Indian policy that led to land loss as well as provides five steps for how to create a land acknowledgement that does more than just putting words on paper. Learn how to create a land acknowledgement that is living and full of action.

Words and phrases have meaning. Have you ever thought about how what you say has power? Has someone around you ever said something that makes you cringe? This workshop provides history and guidance to navigate which phrases to steer clear of and how to recognize cultural appropriation. Learn the history behind phrases you may say every day and how you can avoid causing discomfort to others.

Land Back. These are words that have meaning. These words imply something that many people don’t understand or are afraid of. Learn about what Land Back is, how it is being implemented by organizations to actually give land back to native nations, and the history behind its usage.

Words that have been used to describe the land—wild, untamed, savage—have also been used to describe the land's original inhabitants. Hear the perspective of this accomplished decolonial scholar about the use of these stereotypes of Indigenous peoples.

Indigenous people did not just disappear with westward expansion. Native groups remained strong and vibrant communities who continue to fight for sovereignty and justice. Learn about contemporary issues in Indian Country today including the #MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) epidemic, the fight to protect our Earth, and the continued fight for sovereignty.

The United States boosts some of the most beautiful and breathtaking landscapes—spaces that have been virtually untouched. But do you know the history behind how these pristine areas were created? Learn about the blood and heartache that Indigenous nations faced with the creation of the National Park system.

Land surveying has been historically problematic in the way that it was used to help steal land from Indigenous Nations. Learn the history of how land surveying caused great harm to these Indigenous Nations. Then learn how that same profession is being used today to help the Land Back movement.

There was a time when tribal leaders reported that their children had gone missing: They were taken from the homes that they knew and placed in non-Indigenous homes. Learn how the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) came into existence, and how it is currently jeopardized by a Supreme Court Case that threatens tribal sovereignty.

All the land that makes up the United States is Indigenous land. Learn about the policies that removed Indigenous Nations from their homes and pushed them onto reservations. Explore and learn about the maps that created the United States as we know it today. Understand why the fight to regain this land is important.

Sacred to many Native Nations including the Lakota, the Black Hills were part of the Great Sioux Reservation established in the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868. For several years the Lakota roamed freely through the area. But in 1874, gold was discovered, and life would change forever. After the Custer Expedition, the Black Hills were illegally from the Lakota violating the Treaty of Fort Laramie. What followed were years of protest and litigation that would go all the way to the United States Supreme Court in order to regain control of the Black Hills. Learn about how this process took place and what is going on today to regain these sacred lands.

What is blood quantum? Why do Native Americans have to keep track of it? What does it mean? And why are Native Americans the only human group that must keep track of blood quantum? Blood quantum has been something that Native Americans have had to keep track of since colonization. This was a way for the United States government to limit citizenship. It has now been viewed as a slow genocide of the American Indian. We will explore this idea of blood quantum, what it has done to the individual Native American as well as what it has done to tribes, and how it affects treaty rights.

From the very beginning the United States has dealt with Indigenous peoples with a series of policies and treaties. Most of the policies were aimed at assimilation. For many years Native Americans were forced to live by standards set by the United States. But with the formation of the American Indian Movement, they started to fight back. Learn about the beginnings of the American Indian Movement and the organized protests that they led, including the Occupation of Alcatraz and Wounded Knee. Also learn how the activism of the 1960s lives on today and how we are dealing with issues in the Native community today.

*This talk can be broken into two seperate talks

The Dakota Uprising of 1862 was fought between the United States and various bands of the Dakota/Sioux Nations, brought on by various treaty violations. It ultimately ended with the mass execution of 38 Dakota warriors and the Dakotas’ banishment from their homelands in Minnesota. Armed conflict between the United States and the Dakota people wouldn't end until the 1890 Massacre at Wounded Knee in South Dakota.

Throughout history women have played an important role in the family and the community. In this talk we will explore Native women throughout history who have done some amazing things. Whether it was fighting alongside warriors or becoming doctors, Native women helped shape history.

Indigenous people serve at a higher rate than any other group in the United States. They have served proudly but are oftentimes forgotten. In this lecture we learn about those who helped the United States gain its freedom from Great Britain and how Indigenous peoples were instrumental in other U.S. wars.

In the 1800s assimilation was the government’s policy to work Native Americans into mainstream society, including taking Native children from their homes and sending them to boarding schools. "Save the man, Kill the Indian" was the motto that these schools used as they stripped Native children of their language, culture, and identity. Learn how the schools operated and what we did to help overcome the abuse.

We learn in history class that the Underground Railroad was extremely instrumental in aiding slaves escaping captivity and searching for freedom. What we always don't learn about is the role that Native Americans, who sometimes were enslaved themselves, played in helping others get to freedom. Learn about the important role that tribes played in assisting others in the Underground Railroad.

When the United States started moving westward, the lands of the Lakota and other Plains tribes were taken and their way of life was threatened. It was at the Battle of Little Bighorn where the Lakota, joined by the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and other Plains tribes fought against Lt. Col. George Custer and the 7th Calvary. This would be the last major stand that the Plains tribes made against the U.S. government before the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890 forever ended that Plains way of life.

Native history predates 1492. Native peoples have been on the North American continent for centuries before colonization began. Learn about U.S. History but from the perspective of Native Americans. From the formation of the Iroquois Confederacy to landing on Plymouth Rock and the Lost Colony of Roanoke to the tribes that participated in the American Revolution and the move westward, discover the creation of the treaties between the United States and Native Nations. Finally learn about the beginning of the end for Native Nations with the Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears. This lecture begins in the 1100s and ends just before the Civil War in 1860.

The mid to late 1800s were a turbulent time in American history and a devastating time for Native Americans. In this lecture we will explore the Dakota Uprising of 1862 to keep from starving, treaties that were made and broken, including the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, and the great victory at the Battle of Little Bighorn and the fall of Custer. We will close out the 19th Century with the Massacre at Wounded Knee and the virtual end of the Indian Wars. We will explore the resilience of people who were continuously knocked down but always fought back and finally became citizens of the United States. This lecture will take you up right to the Great Depression and will set the stage for the activism of the 1960s.

There is an epidemic that no one is talking about outside of Indian Country. Within our community we are dealing with an epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. With numbers so high but unreported, how do we deal with it all? Why aren't there concrete statistics? Why do the crimes go unreported? What has the FBI done to help with this epidemic? What does “Missing White Woman Syndrome” have to do with this? Let's talk some history and try to find out why this is an issue and what we can do in and out of Indian Country to make sure that our sisters, mothers, daughters, wives, and girlfriends don't become a statistic.