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YMN Honors Native American Heritage Month!

The month of November is Native American Heritage Month! This month is about learning (and unlearning), celebrating, and honoring Indigenous people, their history and presence today, and their ancestral land in which we still occupy under settler colonialism.

Below you will find inspiring words from YMN’s Executive Director, Arc Telos Saint Amour (they/them/their). As well as a list of resources in which you can learn more, act on, and continue sharing and uplifting Indigenous Voices. We encourage you to use these resources, share them with your community, or promote them in your network!

    • Media & More
          • Indigenizing Love: A Toolkit for Native Youth to Build Inclusion – This resource toolkit was developed for and with young Native leaders. It was written to support Native youth, tribal communities, Two-Spirit and Native LGBTQIA+ collectives, community leaders, and partners who intend to better understand and support our Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities. 
          • This Land – a podcast from Crooked Media, is an award-winning documentary podcast about how a string of custody battles over Native children became a federal lawsuit that threatens everything from tribal sovereignty to civil rights. 
          • Bioneers Indigeneity Program, Videos, Podcasts, and Radio Shows -Bioneers is an innovative nonprofit organization that highlights breakthrough solutions for restoring people and planet. Founded in 1990 in Santa Fe, New Mexico by social entrepreneurs Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons, they act as a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges.
          • GATHERis a feature-length documentary celebrating Indigenous food systems and the efforts underway nationwide to reclaim and rebuild them.
          • A Racial Justice Guide to Thanksgiving – This guide provides resources that range from lesson plans to narratives that uplift the perspectives and contributions of the Native American community. This document, compiled by Center for Racial Justice in Education, is not meant to be exhaustive and will continually be updated as they are made aware of more resources.
          • Guided Mediation from YMN’s Executive Director, Arc Telos Saint Amour (they/them)Inspired by Tommy Orange’s book There There. This meditation is intended to support you in being able to honor yourself, your loved ones, and the land and earth and life all around us.
          • Supporting Gender Diverse Indigenous Youth (Part 1, 2 & 3) – Podcast & Webinar Recording  – The Capacity Building Center for Tribes and Arc Telos Saint Amour present Decolonizing the History of the Gender Binary in Service of Supporting Gender Diverse Indigenous Youth, a three-part webinar series that supports tribal child welfare professionals in building knowledge and identifying strategies to increase their understanding, acceptance, and support of LGBTQIA2S+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and two spirit) youth and families.

     


     

    Map from Native-Land.ca

    Acknowledge the Indigenous Lands You Are On 

    The land we live on is stolen land; Native Land Digital is a resource where you can search your address or click around on the map to see the relevant territories in a location. By clicking on the links, you will be taken to a page about that nation. There, you can view sources, give feedback, and learn a little more.


     

    Attend a Local or Virtual Event

    Tribal Nations are always putting on events to educate and celebrate indigenous voices and history. Take some time, research, and find out if there are any local or virtual events celebrating or sharing Indigenous Peoples’ voices! A great place to start would be to take a look at the events listed on the official Native American Heritage Month website or on the National Park Service calendar.
    Be sure the events are led by Indigenous People themselves. 

      • Media & More
          • Indigenizing Love: A Toolkit for Native Youth to Build Inclusion – This resource toolkit was developed for and with young Native leaders. It was written to support Native youth, tribal communities, Two-Spirit and Native LGBTQIA+ collectives, community leaders, and partners who intend to better understand and support our Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities. 
          • This Land – a podcast from Crooked Media, is an award-winning documentary podcast about how a string of custody battles over Native children became a federal lawsuit that threatens everything from tribal sovereignty to civil rights. 
          • Bioneers Indigeneity Program, Videos, Podcasts, and Radio Shows -Bioneers is an innovative nonprofit organization that highlights breakthrough solutions for restoring people and planet. Founded in 1990 in Santa Fe, New Mexico by social entrepreneurs Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons, they act as a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges.
          • GATHERis a feature-length documentary celebrating Indigenous food systems and the efforts underway nationwide to reclaim and rebuild them.
          • A Racial Justice Guide to Thanksgiving – This guide provides resources that range from lesson plans to narratives that uplift the perspectives and contributions of the Native American community. This document, compiled by Center for Racial Justice in Education, is not meant to be exhaustive and will continually be updated as they are made aware of more resources.
          • Guided Mediation from YMN’s Executive Director, Arc Telos Saint Amour (they/them)Inspired by Tommy Orange’s book There There. This meditation is intended to support you in being able to honor yourself, your loved ones, and the land and earth and life all around us.
          • Supporting Gender Diverse Indigenous Youth (Part 1, 2 & 3) – Podcast & Webinar Recording  – The Capacity Building Center for Tribes and Arc Telos Saint Amour present Decolonizing the History of the Gender Binary in Service of Supporting Gender Diverse Indigenous Youth, a three-part webinar series that supports tribal child welfare professionals in building knowledge and identifying strategies to increase their understanding, acceptance, and support of LGBTQIA2S+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and two spirit) youth and families.

     


     

    Map from Native-Land.ca

    Acknowledge the Indigenous Lands You Are On 

    The land we live on is stolen land; Native Land Digital is a resource where you can search your address or click around on the map to see the relevant territories in a location. By clicking on the links, you will be taken to a page about that nation. There, you can view sources, give feedback, and learn a little more.


     

    Attend a Local or Virtual Event

    Tribal Nations are always putting on events to educate and celebrate indigenous voices and history. Take some time, research, and find out if there are any local or virtual events celebrating or sharing Indigenous Peoples’ voices! A great place to start would be to take a look at the events listed on the official Native American Heritage Month website or on the National Park Service calendar.
    Be sure the events are led by Indigenous People themselves. 

        • Indigenous Movement Organizations
              • Native Justice Coalition – Two-Spirit Program – This Two-Spirit program engages in decolonizing gender roles and identities within our Native and First Nations communities. They work to restore gender balance through honoring the entire gender spectrum that exists in our communities. 

              • Indigenous Environmental Network – IEN is an alliance of Indigenous Peoples whose Shared Mission is to Protect the Sacredness of Earth Mother from contamination & exploitation by strengthening, maintaining and respecting Indigenous teachings and natural laws.

              • NDN Collective – NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.

              • Great Plains Action Society – Great Plains Action Society addresses the trauma Indigenous Peoples and our Earth have faced and works to prevent further colonial-capitalist violence through education, direct action, cultural revival, mutual aid, and political change
              • Paths (ReMembered) Project – The Paths (Re)Membered Project centers the Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ community–its strengths, resiliencies, and histories—in our movement toward health equity. Through community engagement, research, and advocacy, we work toward a liberated 2SLGBTQ+ future, which includes the memories of Two Spirit ancestors, the wisdom of our elders, and the creativity of our young people.

          • Books
                • There There – a book from Tommy Orange, is a wondrous and shattering novel that follows twelve characters from Native communities. Written by Tommy Orange, who is a graduate of the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts. An enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, he was born and raised in Oakland, California. 

                • An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States – a non-fiction book written by the historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States describes and analyzes a four-hundred-year span of complex Indigenous struggles against the colonization of the Americas. 

                • Our History Is the Future – a book by Nick Estes, In Our History Is the Future, Nick Estes traces traditions of Indigenous resistance that led to the #NoDAPL movement. Our History Is the Future is at once a work of history, a manifesto, and an intergenerational story of resistance.

            • Media & More
                • Indigenizing Love: A Toolkit for Native Youth to Build Inclusion – This resource toolkit was developed for and with young Native leaders. It was written to support Native youth, tribal communities, Two-Spirit and Native LGBTQIA+ collectives, community leaders, and partners who intend to better understand and support our Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities. 
                • This Land – a podcast from Crooked Media, is an award-winning documentary podcast about how a string of custody battles over Native children became a federal lawsuit that threatens everything from tribal sovereignty to civil rights. 
                • Bioneers Indigeneity Program, Videos, Podcasts, and Radio Shows -Bioneers is an innovative nonprofit organization that highlights breakthrough solutions for restoring people and planet. Founded in 1990 in Santa Fe, New Mexico by social entrepreneurs Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons, they act as a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges.
                • GATHERis a feature-length documentary celebrating Indigenous food systems and the efforts underway nationwide to reclaim and rebuild them.
                • A Racial Justice Guide to Thanksgiving – This guide provides resources that range from lesson plans to narratives that uplift the perspectives and contributions of the Native American community. This document, compiled by Center for Racial Justice in Education, is not meant to be exhaustive and will continually be updated as they are made aware of more resources.
                • Guided Mediation from YMN’s Executive Director, Arc Telos Saint Amour (they/them)Inspired by Tommy Orange’s book There There. This meditation is intended to support you in being able to honor yourself, your loved ones, and the land and earth and life all around us.
                • Supporting Gender Diverse Indigenous Youth (Part 1, 2 & 3) – Podcast & Webinar Recording  – The Capacity Building Center for Tribes and Arc Telos Saint Amour present Decolonizing the History of the Gender Binary in Service of Supporting Gender Diverse Indigenous Youth, a three-part webinar series that supports tribal child welfare professionals in building knowledge and identifying strategies to increase their understanding, acceptance, and support of LGBTQIA2S+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and two spirit) youth and families.

           


           

          Map from Native-Land.ca

          Acknowledge the Indigenous Lands You Are On 

          The land we live on is stolen land; Native Land Digital is a resource where you can search your address or click around on the map to see the relevant territories in a location. By clicking on the links, you will be taken to a page about that nation. There, you can view sources, give feedback, and learn a little more.


           

          Attend a Local or Virtual Event

          Tribal Nations are always putting on events to educate and celebrate indigenous voices and history. Take some time, research, and find out if there are any local or virtual events celebrating or sharing Indigenous Peoples’ voices! A great place to start would be to take a look at the events listed on the official Native American Heritage Month website or on the National Park Service calendar.
          Be sure the events are led by Indigenous People themselves.