Notable Native People

Introduction

Into An Indigenous Future

The United States as we know it has not always existed there is a deep and rich legacy of people inhabiting these lands long before the first European colonists arrived and altered the course of history. The lands in what is currently known as the United States encompass the homelands of 574 federally recognized American Indian tribal nations, as well as hundreds more state-recognized and non-recognized tribal nations. In addition, through later acts of land seizing and in the case of the Hawaiian Kingdom, illegal overthrow our extended Indigenous community also includes Ka naka Maoli and Alaska Native people. These three groups encompass vast diversity innumerable cultural groups, nations, languages, histories, experiences, struggles, and joys.

Indigenous people are the first people of the lands around the world. To be Indigenous is to be of a place, to have creation stories of how your people emerged from the land, and to be connected to a community from that place. As the first people of their respective lands, American Indian people, Alaska Native people, and Ka naka Maoli have expertly stewarded and cared for the land, built vast cities and societies, utilized democratic governance, and carried and shaped cultural practices and traditions for centuries. But because of the destructive legacy of settler colonialism, most Americans know very little about Native people beyond the stereotypes of Hollywood Indians, igloos, or Hawaiian grass skirts, but our reality is much different. We have and have always had leaders across all sectors, from science, art, and activism to education, fashion, politics, and beyond.

I am a Native person who was raised far away from her Cherokee community, surrounded by non-Natives, and educated in predominantly white schools. Growing up, the lesson I learned in school about Indigenous people was that we were people who existed only in the historic past, that we and our

Adrienne Keene is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, an assistant professor of American studies and ethnic studies at Brown University, and holds a doctorate in culture, communities, and education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She cohosts the podcast All My Relations and is the longtime author of Native Appropriations, a blog discussing representations of Native peoples in popular culture. Her writing has appeared in such outlets as Teen Vogue, the New York Times, Stanford Magazine, and Indian Country Today, and she has appeared on NPR, CBC, Al Jazeera, PBS, BuzzFeed, and Slate's Represent podcast.

Ciara Sana is a Chamoru artist currently based in Bellingham, Washington, but grew up in Guam, where she was surrounded by a mix of Indigenous Chamoru culture and people from all over the Pacific islands, Asia, and the U.S. mainland. Ciara s art is deeply rooted in her culture and inspired by all the different styles and flavors found on the beautiful island. The goal of her work is to empower and uplift others, celebrate differences, and encourage love.