There is nothing new about the “New World.” Indigenous peoples have lived on, thrived on, and improved on the continents of North and South America for at least 15,000 years — and evidence suggests for the past 125,000. Today, 70 million Native people are taking their land, culture, and tradition back to the future — by reclaiming Native land, actively indigenizing spaces, and building a multi-ethnic, multi-racial coalition to confront the challenges of the 21st century: climate change, social and economic inequality, and the lasting legacies and vestiges of colonialism. In the end, true justice and equality for all will only come when these lands are recognized and returned to the Indigenous people who have stewarded them for time immemorial.
So what does it mean to indigenize? It means to structure society, education, culture, and morals in a just relationship to others, our ancestors, future generations, and the land we live on, cultivate, and steward. In the passive sense, it means to decolonize governance, education, healthcare, and science. In the active sense, it means to recognize the true stewards of the land, and to actively structure education, sustainability, health, and gender equality around the wisdom of Native peoples. Why? Because Indigenizing changes everything. How? We achieve this through leveraging advances in technology and science — from Artificial Intelligence and Deep learning to distributed collectivism — to disrupt the narrative around Native peoples, challenge Western thought, and propose solutions for a brave, new 21st Century.
From the climate crisis to inequalities in income, social advancement, education, health care and racial justice the next century faces many challenges with a common root in the vestiges of colonialism and the last half of the past millennium. Our original founding mission was to empower Native youth, and we remain committed to doing so by indigenizing previously colonized spaces. But to fully achieve a better 21st century for all, we must invite non-Nartive peoples to indigenize all spaces. Only through building a multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-generational movement to build a Native future can we all achieve the 21st century we hope for.
We invite you to learn about the stories of the men, women, and children fighting for and advancing an Indigenous future freed from the mistakes of colonialism, and how you can help. Read their stories and amplify their impact.
Then, join us and turn your advocacy into action. For $20, you can amplify the voice and work of a Native change maker and invite 1,000 people into our Indigenous 21st century. Join our monthly giving community The Collective, and indigenize all year round.
