Upcoming Live Course
Building Solidarity with Indigenous Communities
2026 Cohort
Learn basic do’s and dont’s when collaborating with grassroots Indigenous efforts in service to life.
Overview
Join a community of change makers working to heal Mother Earth! We need more and more alliances, more and more collaborations. With so much at stake, Native Nations have oceans of ecological and social solutions to offer the world. We need people to learn from and join our struggles to protect Life on Earth.
But first, we can de-program the ways we are consciously and unconsciously trained to approach Native Nations in the wrong way (e.g. extractivism, tokenization, romanticization, and co-optation).
Through this course you will attain the basic training needed to approach Native communities in a good way, establishing kinship-based relationships of meaningful solidarity, and maintaining them in a joyful and successful way.
In this introductory course, we will:
Become confident approaching Indigenous Peoples and communities in a kinship-minded way
Learn how to maintain relationships with Native Nations in a lifelong process of solidarity/mutuality
Unlearn common mistakes and replace with proper protocols on how to connect with Indigenous communities
Receive readings, videos, and podcasts if you want to further your study
Explore and reconnect with our own Indigenous roots and identity to approach Indigenous communities with deeper knowledge of self
Gain inspiring kinship with like-minded instructors and peers to kickstart our solidarity efforts
Course Logistics
Classes will take place via Zoom on August 16, 23, & 30
Classes take place 9-11am Pacific Time (time zone converter)
Recordings are available for days you miss!
Recordings, resources, and access to our international Community are all available after registration
Beginners are welcome—as well as alumni who wish to repeat the course and deepen their learning
Pay what you can
This course is available to all on a sliding scale basis from $1 - ∞. We suggest a $40-$60 donation for this course, but no one is turned away for lack of funds!
Modules
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In this class, we will begin to unlearn the subconscious conditioning that is placed on all of us by colonization. We will do so in ways that are brave, gentle, and forgiving. It is imperative that we understand the deeply painful history of colonial violation and extraction of Indigenous communities, and move forward from a place of self-love instead of guilt or avoidance. We have an opportunity to embark on personal journeys of unlearning the conscious and unconscious beliefs that may perpetuate practices of exploitation. Unraveling the biases we may unknowingly bring into our communal efforts will prepare us to responsibly and constructively be in solidarity with Indigenous communities.
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After “unlearning” in the first class, we will explore responsible ways that we can engage with Indigenous communities. We will discuss “protocols” and expectations that are common in many Indigenous communities, and how these may shift depending on who we are supporting. Specifically, we will look at a few case studies to see how certain Native Nations have requested to be engaged with on their own terms. We will also explore service learning vs. extractive learning— where volunteering with Indigenous communities can be a constructive avenue for learning more about Indigenous philosophies and practices. Most importantly, we will dig into our own Indigenous roots to try not to come from a place of personal “cultural deficits” or grasping for cultural belonging. We will also celebrate the #LANDBACK movement and how this movement has embodied successful solidarity.
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In Module 3, we present a clear step-by-step process for working with Indigenous communities in a respectful, effective, and decolonial way. We give this road map to prepare students for powerful and successful collaboration, which places each unique Native community in the “driver’s seat” of how they are supported, and empowers non-Native allies to feel confident in their initial steps and relationship building process. This road map is accompanied by a set of best practices, a clear list of do’s and don’t’s, a resource guide, and preparation for diverse scenarios. Focused on reciprocity, we will explore how we can truly be allies to Indigenous relatives and collectively care for Mother Earth.