NDN Collective

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NDN Collective is an indigenous-led activist and advocacy organization based in Rapid City, South Dakota, USA.[1]  Founded in 2018, NDN Collective works with more than 200 Indigenous-led groups in the U.S.[2] NDN Collective's mission, according to its website, is "Build the collective power of Indigenous Peoples, communities, and Nations to exercise our inherent right to self-determination, while fostering a world that is built on a foundation of justice and equity for all people and the planet." and includes “defend: our people, communities, and nations; develop: Indigenous communities in a regenerative and sustainable manner, and decolonize: our minds, communities, and sovereign nations.”[3] According to president and CEO Nick Tilsen (Oglala Lakota), NDN Collective has “an overall strategy to shift power, decolonize wealth, and resource Indigenous people who are on the front lines of fighting for justice and equity.” [4] The collective has four primary campaign areas listed on its website:

  • Climate justice
  • Racial equity
  • Education equity
  • LANDBACK

Recent prominent donors to NDN Collective include Mackenzie Scott, due to her concerns about wealth inequality, discrimination, and the need for investment in education,[5] and the Jeff Bezos Earth Fund, which donated $12 million for their work against climate change.[6]

NDN Collective plans to open an independent, Indigenous-led school for Native students in Rapid City, with 40 students in fall 2022. The school will be based upon the Native American Community Academy (NACA) and NACA-inspired schools network (NISN).[7]

The collective created its LANDBACK Campaign to support the global indigenous Land Back movement. The movement demands the return of Native American territory seized by breaking treaties, including return of Lakota territory in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where the four faces of Mount Rushmore are carved.[8] “Wherever you go to connect to God, that’s what the Black Hills are to the Lakota,” said Nick Tilsen, president of NDN Collective.[9] The area, known as Paha Sapa — “the heart of everything that is” is sacred to the Lakota people.[10]

On July 3, 2020, Tilsen helped organize more than 200 people to attend, and was arrested at, a protest against the South Dakota's Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration 2020.[11] Tilsen was charged with a combination of misdemeanors and felonies that could have led to 17 years in prison.[12] Most charges were later dropped.[13]

On July 4, 2021, Krystal Two Bulls, (Northern Cheyenne, Oglala Lakota), NDN Collective LANDBACK Campaign Director, and Nadya Tannous, an NDN Collective LANDBACK campaign organizer, were arrested after scaling a 100-foot-tall grain elevator in downtown Rapid City and hanging a gigantic, inverted American flag with the words "Land Back".[14][15][16]

References[]

  1. ^ Pietsch, Bryan; Fortin, Jacey (2020-07-01). "How Mount Rushmore Became Mount Rushmore". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  2. ^ staff, Journal. "Jeff Bezos Earth Fund gives $12 million to NDN Collective for climate change initiatives". Rapid City Journal Media Group. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  3. ^ "Our Mission". NDN Collective. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  4. ^ staff, Journal. "Jeff Bezos Earth Fund gives $12 million to NDN Collective for climate change initiatives". Rapid City Journal Media Group. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  5. ^ "MacKenzie Scott giving to Rapid City based NDN Collective as part of nearly $3 billion dollar campaign of giving". KELOLAND.com. 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  6. ^ staff, Journal. "Jeff Bezos Earth Fund gives $12 million to NDN Collective for climate change initiatives". Rapid City Journal Media Group. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  7. ^ Fire, Buffalo’s. "Indigenous-led school aims for success". Indian Country Today. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  8. ^ "The battle for Mount Rushmore: 'It should be turned into something like the Holocaust Museum'". the Guardian. 2021-07-03. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  9. ^ Pietsch, Bryan; Fortin, Jacey (2020-07-01). "How Mount Rushmore Became Mount Rushmore". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  10. ^ "Lakota Mount Rushmore protester says charges being dropped". AP NEWS. 2021-03-22. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  11. ^ Sullivan, Meghan. "Charges against treaty defenders dropped". Indian Country Today. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  12. ^ Sullivan, Meghan. "Charges against treaty defenders dropped". Indian Country Today. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  13. ^ "Lakota Mount Rushmore protester says charges being dropped". AP NEWS. 2021-03-22. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  14. ^ Nauman, Talli (2021-07-09). "Native Sun News Today: Climbers arrested in LANDBACK protest on 'Fourth of You Lie'". Indianz.Com. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  15. ^ staff, Siandhara Bonnet Journal. "Protesters arrested for climbing Dakota Mill and Grain released from jail". Rapid City Journal Media Group. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  16. ^ Dausch, Dominik W. E. "4 arrested after hanging "LANDBACK" flag from Omaha Street grain elevator". www.kotatv.com. Retrieved 2021-07-20.

Further reading[]

  • Pieratos, Nikki A; Manning, Sarah S; Tilsen, Nick (2020). "Land Back: A meta narrative to help indigenous people show up as movement leaders". Leadership. 17 (1): 47–61. doi:10.1177/1742715020976204. ISSN 1742-7150.

External links[]

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