Native American & Indigenous Studies

A diverse and multifaceted cultural and educational enterprise, the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) is an active and visible component of the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum complex. The NMAI cares for one of the world's most expansive collections of Native artifacts, including objects, photographs, archives, and media covering the entire Western Hemisphere, from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego. The website provides a large collection of online resources.

The stories and heritage of the first peoples that inhabited this land run long and deep. Ancestral homelands from Maine to Hawaii, Alaska to Puerto Rico, maintain cultural identity. Many intersect closely with national parks due to geography, history, and culture. The National Park Service is committed to working with American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians to preserve native cultural heritage and celebrate tribal cultures

National research shows that given just a few facts — shaped around the key
themes of shared values, history and visibility — people become more open to
understanding and engaging with Native issues, cultures, tribes and peoples.
Research confirms that there is a broad, diverse audience that is ready for this
new narrative and ready to engage as allies.

This is a brief guide for Resource Generation members and other folks with access to land to support in education and resource sharing around land reparations. We hope these resources can support us in taking collective action towards land repatriation to Indigenous people in the ongoing struggle against colonization. This is not a comprehensive guide, but rather a starting point. This guide was compiled by the RG Land Reparations Group in 2018.

This worksheet was inspired by a hand out created by Qwul'sih'yah'maht, Robina Thomas (Lyackson of the Coast Salish Nation). It has been developed with input from Corrina Gould (Chochenyo Ohlone from the Confederated Villages of Lisjan), Johnella LaRose (Shoshone-Bannock), Nick Tilsen (Oglala-Lakota), Annie Morgan Banks and Chanelle Gallant. The goal of this exercise is for non-native people to learn and reflect on the history and current struggles of Indigenous people, and to begin thinking about our role in colonization and decolonization. It is about changing the way we think about and relate to the land that we call home and to the people whose home this land is.

This document will act as a resource for non-Indigenous people seeking to become allies to Aboriginal people. To help allies understand the struggle for decolonization and nationhood and what effective allyship to Aboriginal peoples mean. The following document will prvide a condensed summation of what academic and popular literature has to say about being an ally, including positive practices (what aspiring allies can do) and negative practices (approaches that are discouraged), and will conclude with a list of resources for further learning.