Our IKC
Approach
Cheyenne Ironman and Josh Letander in the lands of the Tséstho’e (Cheyenne), Apsáalooke (Crow), Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Lakhota), and hinono’eino’ biito’owu’ (Arapaho)
Indigenous Worldview.
Indigenous Peoples descend from the earliest, original inhabitants of a region and hold cultural memory of sustainable, balanced relationships with the land, waters, sky, elements, and all our relatives. With respect and reverence for our ancestors, we hold sacred the places where we live and the kincentric ecological systems on which we depend for identity, culture, nourishment, and well-being. We accept the responsibility of being good stewards in reciprocal relationships with all beings and work together to facilitate healing, connectivity, and redistribution of knowledge, time, and resources within our communities. We are guided by the seven sacred teachings – love, respect, courage, honesty, wisdom, humility, and truth – in collaboration towards the restoration of cultural values, beliefs, practices, and relationships that were disrupted by historical and ongoing acts of colonization. We embrace those who are reconnecting, or cannot access their Indigenous community or geographies due to colonization.
Conditions that Nuture our Vision.
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Indigenous people create holistic solutions that are place-based and culturally-grounded.
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Indigenous people employ traditional knowledge to revitalize our cultures, steward our environments, and care for our communities and relatives.
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Indigenous people in grasslands rekindle our ancestral kinship routes – sharing knowledge, resources, and support.
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Indigenous futurity advances self-determination, environmental sustainability, and economic justice.
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Indigenous people reconnect to our ancestral or current homelands, waters, and relatives through rematriation, land transfers, and co-management with governmental entities.
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Indigenous people exist in sacred relationship with the land, practicing kincentric ecology through our lifeways.
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Indigenous people reclaim our languages and names for landscape and relatives.
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Indigenous efforts guide the stewardship of grasslands for regenerating reciprocal social and environmental interconnections.
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Western conservation and science recognize and work to redress past harms by supporting sovereignty of First Nations, and Indigenous-led efforts for solidarity, food sovereignty, environmental justice, and land and water stewardship.
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Western conservation and science recognize that Indigenous people helped establish kincentric ecological dynamics in grasslands through their sacred relationships.
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Western conservation and science respect and value Indigenous efforts, perspectives, and approaches in grassland stewardship.
Indigenous people have a role in shaping grassland funding, policies, and program opportunities in support of Indigenous-led grassland stewardship.