LANDBACK For The People

In Season 3 Episode 1: Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective CEO and Founder, sits down with He Sapa Otipi's Executive Director, Cante Heart and Dr. Valeriah Big Eagle, NDN Collective Director of Strategic Partnerships, two Indigenous matriarchs leading the work of developing an Indian Center in MniLuzahan (Rapid City).  He Sapa Otipi is an emerging non-profit rooted in Lakota values and traditions that revitalizes traditional kinships and fosters a sense of belonging within the community of MniLuzahan. It provides a safe space for reconnecting our spirits to ceremony, community, cultural identity, and awareness. He Sapa Otipi works to educate, engage, and empower Native populations while celebrating the richness of our shared values and heritage.  ✊

On this kickoff episode of Season 3 of LANDBACK For the People, Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective's Founder & CEO, welcomes new leadership to NDN Collective, President Wizipan Little Elk In this conversation we unpack the triad of leadership at NDN Collective, examining the origins of Nick, Wizipan, and Vice President Gaby Strong, and how they each came into their roles at the organization. We learn from each of them the makings of impactful Indigenous leadership, the interconnectedness of Indigenous lifeways that make the LANDBACK movement what it is today, and much more.  ✊

On this final episode of season 2, Nick Tilsen talks with Jason Sole to discuss what being an abolitionist means, the origins of FTP, how the LANDBACK movement and Black Liberation are required for our collective liberation, and that Black and Indigenous solidarity is a practice that we need to build within our movements.  ABOUT JASON SOLE: Jason, formerly incarcerated, is an abolitionist. He has been a criminal justice educator for over 12 years and has been a national restorative justice trainer since 2008, In 2019, he received the John Legend “Can't Just Preach” award for his work to abolish prisons. In addition, Jason is the co-founder of the Humanize My Hoodie Movement in which he challenges threat perceptions about Black people through clothing, art exhibitions, documentary screenings, and workshops.  ✊

On this episode of LANDBACK FOR THE PEOPLE, Nick Tilsen invites Deenaalee Hodgdon, Co-Executive Director of Smokehouse Collective, Executive Producer of “On the Land” Podcast, and NDN Collective Radical Imagination artist, to discuss the subsistence lifeways of the Arctic through fishing and tracking salmon to feed and sustain their communities. ✊

On this episode of LANDBACK FOR THE PEOPLE, Nick Tilsen invites filmmakers Julian Brave Noisecat (former NDN Collective Media Fellow) and Emily Kassie, directors of the award winning documentary SUGARCANE, to have the conversation on Indian boarding schools (known as residential schools in Canada) and its relationship with land back.  Boarding schools and education were weaponized in order to assimilate Indigenous people into mainstream society. We're asking our allies and accomplices to share this episode with your families and communities because it's important to understand what has happened historically to our people. It is important to understand the trauma that still exists and how that has a direct correlation to the challenges that we face today.  SUGARCANE is NOW STREAMING on DISNEY+ and HULU. ✊

In Season 2 Episode 4: Protect the ȞeSápa, Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective President and CEO talks about the the history of mining in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the direct corelation of the General Mining Act of 1872 and its relationship with the stealing of Indigenous land, and how we are working to protect the ȞeSápa today. "As long as the history is for the ȞeSápa, so is the history of resistance." Featured guests include Taylor Gunhammer and Andrew Catt-Iron Shell, local organizers for NDN Collective. ✊

In Season 2 Episode 3: The NDNs are coming! ... to Hold Racism Accountable, Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective President and CEO talks about the racism towards Indigenous Peoples on their homelands and how systemic racism is a problematic cause of economic injustice for our Indigenous relatives across Turtle Island. It's a daily hardship, "Whether it's in Gallup or in Rapid City. The story is the same." Nick Tilsen said. Our 'Rapid City vs. Racism' campaign is our effort to dismantle systemic racism on our homelands in Rapid City, which includes the civil rights lawsuit against the Grand Gateway Hotel. Featured guests include Sunny Red Bear, Associate Director of Organizing, and Eva Cardenas, Director of Organizing. ✊

Independent artist Benjamin Hammond Haggerty – better known by his stage name Macklemore – is the featured guest on this episode. He speaks vulnerably about his journey to understand the intertwined nature of white supremacy, colonization, oppression, land theft, and more. On the episode, Nick Tilsen and Macklemore delve into how they met at a rally for Palestinian liberation, politically educating their children, reckoning with past cultural appropriation, the fear white people have of losing power, landback movements across the globe, and more.   Links Mentioned: https://www.lakotanationvsus.movie/ https://linktr.ee/palestinianyouthmovement https://landback.org/  https://macklemore.com/  Episode Credits: Hosted by: Nick Tilsen Produced by: Willi White Co-Producer: Steph Viera  Edited by: Willi White Original Music by: Mato Wayuhi

In Season 2 Episode 1, Nick Tilsen talks with Demetrius Johnson, Kiley Guy and Jennifer Marley from The Red Nation and Red Media. They discuss Indigenous liberation and continued solidarity with our Palestinian Relatives, the history of The Red Nation and the work they're engaged in as community organizers, and why they started the Red Media podcast and more.  Links Mentioned: https://indigenousforpalestine.org/ Episode Credits: Hosted by: Nick Tilsen Produced by: Willi White Co-Producer: Steph Viera  Edited by: Willi White Original Music by: Mato Wayuhi

In this episode, Nick Tilsen visits with longtime mentor Dune Lankard, who shares stories and knowledge from his fight to protect his homelands in southcentral Alaska. From protecting millions of acres, to standing up for the bears, to fighting climate change while feeding the people with kelp, Dune shows what it means when he says, “ocean back.” As Dune says, “if it's not regenerative then just don't do it.”  Dune Lankard, Eyak Athabaskan of the Eagle Clan from Cordova, Alaska, has been fighting to protect his homelands in the Prince William Sound and the Copper River Delta his entire life. He waged successful battles in protecting over a million acres in the Copper River Delta, was lifted up by Times Magazines as one of the Heroes of the Planet, selected by Asoka as one of the world's leading social entrepreneurs, won numerous awards for this work, and has mentored many in this movement just by being a warrior fighting for mother earth. His work has influenced Nick, many we work with, and the creation of NDN Collective. On this episode: Dune Lankard, Eyak Athabaskan, President and Founder of Native Conservancy https://www.nativeconservancy.org   

For nearly 50 years, Indigenous organizers, activists, and allies have dedicated themselves to fight against the unjust incarceration of Indigenous movement leader, Leonard Peltier. In Episode 6 of the LANDBACK For The People, Nick Tilsen delves into the complexities of the longest serving Indigenous political prisoner alongside trusted legal and government affairs partners fighting for Leonard Peltier's freedom. On this episode:  Holly Cook Macarro, Red Lake Ojibwe, NDN Collective Government Affairs  Bruce Ellison, Criminal Defense Attorney Read More: "I am still here": Leonard Peltier's Letter to Supporters Indigenous Leaders and Allies Arrested at White House Rally in Support of Clemency for Native American Activist Leonard Peltier

Creative Resistance requires the collective force of creativity that lies within Indigenous people to interpret the messages of the movement, leaving behind unforgettable artwork. In Episode 5 of the LANDBACK For The People, Nick TIlsen sits with members of NDN Collective's Creative Resistance team to unpack the significance of how art carries our movement forward. On this Episode: Cy Wagoner, Diné, Creative Resistance Director Jaque Fragua, Pueblo of Jemez, Creative Resistance Coordinator Tytianna Harris, Diné, Creative Resistance Action Coordinator  

When Indigenous people say that we are fighting for LandBack by any means necessary, we aim to address the multi-pronged approach we take within the movement. We know that not one tactic alone will liberate the people and our land. In episode 4 of the LANDBACK For the People podcast, NDN Collective President and CEO Nick Tilsen and guests speak to how the legal system, although colonial, is still a viable avenue to fight for LandBack. Our esteemed guests of Episode 4: Phillip Tinker, Osage attorney at Kanji & Katzen, specializing in the matters of tribal sovereignty, jurisdiction, and powers of government Nicole Yanes, NDN Collective Director of Grantmaking and citizen of the Opata Nation, bringing over 10 years of experience in community organizing and nation building for Indigenous people.

In episode 3, host Nick Tilsen invites André Perez and Camille Kalama to unpack the ongoing fight for ‘Āina Back. As we know, #landback is a global Indigenous fight to liberate the land, the people, and in this episode we're reminded about the importance of leaning into our kuleana – or “responsibility” to collectively partake in healing our relationship with mother earth. FOLLOW HULI:  https://hulinvda.org/ Instagram: @huli.nvda 

In this episode, Nick Tilsen sits down with Sunny, Hermus and Anissa, local organizers to Rapid City, SD working on NDN Collective's #RapidCityVsRacism campaign. Together they start to unpack the linkage between racism and LANDBACK. The trio share personal stories of Indigenous power building as they fight against racism in the Hesapa. CALL TO ACTIONS:  Text: "rapidvracism" to 50302 Local to Rapid City: Rapid City vs Racism Town Hall, June 8th, 2023

In this first episode of LANDBACK FOR THE PEOPLE, Nick Tilsen sits at the table with matriarch Madonna Thunder Hawk (Oohenumpa Lakota). Madonna jokingly calls herself the Forest Gump of Indigenous resistance, since, over the last 55 years, she's been at almost every focal point in the fight for Indigenous liberation. Through numerous decades of resistance efforts, from the occupation of Mount Rushmore in 1971 and the takeover of the BIA headquarters in 1972, to the siege at Wounded Knee in 1973 and unforgettably Standing Rock in 2016, Madonna exemplifies what it means to be a true Warrior Woman. Nick and Madonna lay bare how generations of Indigenous people have met across politics and places for the sake of LANDBACK, revealing moments in the movement that were unimaginable. In this conversation, we are reminded of the blood and ancestral memory of our deep connection to land and water, inheriting the movement knowledge and stories of those before us in preparation for a liberated future.  Madonna continues to honor the matriarchs of the Red Power Movement through the Warrior Woman Project, a collaborative of matriarchs, storytellers, and archivists who “bring to light the radical impact of Indigenous women” throughout history. https://www.warriorwomen.org/