The Indigenous Futures Survey, the largest survey of Native peoples ever conducted, represents a precedent-setting new chapter in Native-led research and organizing to dismantle systemic racism and build power for Native peoples. More than 6,400 Native adults from 401 Tribes and all 50 U.S. states participated in the survey. The results offer compelling new insights into the systemic challenges, issue priorities, and experiences of Native peoples, providing a platform to advocate for change. This session will share the groundbreaking approach and results of this research, its policy and systems change implications, and the critical need for narrative and culture change to ‘close the distance’ between the non-Native public and Native peoples.
This session was curated in partnership with Illuminative.
Professor of Psychology, Regents of the University of Michigan
Stephanie A. Fryberg is the University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Research for Indigenous Social Action and Equity Center at the University of Michigan. Her primary research focuses on how social representations of race, culture, and social class influence the development of self, psychological well-being, and educational attainment; and on designing interventions that reconfigure educational spaces to improve outcomes for racial minority and low-income students. Dr. Fryberg received the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Louise Kidder Early Career Award, Otto Klineberg Intercultural and International Relations Award, University of Arizona Five Star Faculty Award, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Service Award, and in 2011 was inducted into the Multicultural Alumni Hall of Fame at Stanford University. Dr. Fryberg also provided testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs regarding the impact of racist stereotypes on Indigenous people, was lead psychologist on an Amicus Brief for Harjo v. Pro-Football, and served as an expert witness in the Keepseagle v. U.S. Department of Agriculture class action lawsuit.
Executive Director, Center for Native American Youth
Nikki Santos is executive director of the Center for Native American Youth. . She is an enrolled citizen of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. As executive director, Nikki is responsible for visioning, managing staff, and fund raising. Her biggest inspiration comes from her daughter and nieces and nephews.
Judith is a citizen of the Caddo Nation and director of the Native Organizers Alliance (NOA), a national Native training and organizing network. NOA works with tribes, traditional societies, and grassroots community groups in Native urban and tribal communities.
At the core of her work is the belief that organizing a grassroots, durable ecosystem of Native leaders and organizers who share a common theory of change rooted in traditional values and sacred practices is necessary to achieve tribal sovereignty and racial equity for all.
Since 2016 she has partnered with the Brave Heart Society, a traditional Dakota women’s society, and the Yankton Sioux Tribe on a project to re-establish the inherent, and legal rights of the Yankton and other Oceti Sakowin tribes in the Missouri River Basin in South Dakota to regain co-management of the bio-region.
She is a board member of IllumiNative, and chair of the board of NDN. She is a 2019 Roddenberry Fellow.
Crystal Echo Hawk (Pawnee) is the founder and CEO of IllumiNative, the first and only national Native-led organization focused on changing the narrative about Native peoples on a mass scale. IllumiNative has been instrumental in changing the narrative and representation of contemporary Native peoples in key sectors of entertainment, pop culture, media, and politics. Crystal is known nationally as a thought leader, innovator, acclaimed speaker, and skilled executive who builds meaningful collaborations. In leading IllumiNative, she has led partnership building with industry leaders such as Nielsen, Netflix, NBC Universal, Amazon, Disney, Marvel, and others. Crystal also serves as a member of Nielsen’s External Advisory Council and the Comcast Diversity Council. Crystal was featured in People Magazine as one of the ‘2021 Women Changing the World’ and she was profiled in Lifetime’s ‘Women Making History’ hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris in 2021.
