How to Support Native American Communities as an Ally

Authentic Native representation is on the rise in popular movies and television, politics, ecology, and more, yet misunderstanding and misconceptions about Native American life and culture still abound. That’s because American history as it’s long been taught in U.S. schools has largely whitewashed the challenging truths about colonialism, which intended to destroy Indigenous lifeways through dispossession, displacement, and disenfranchisement.

The long-lasting effects of colonialism can still be felt today in Native communities, which experience ongoing discrimination, marked health inequities, and disproportionately high rates of poverty, substance use, and suicide.

But those traumas don’t paint a full picture of Indigenous life among the United States’ 574 federally recognized tribes and the hundreds of other tribes that are not officially acknowledged; the picture is also filled with beauty, joy, and traditional wisdom.

As tribal nations endeavor to uphold their sovereignty and revitalize their rich cultures, non-Native individuals play a vital role in uplifting them. So, what exactly does that entail?

We tapped four Indigenous change makers for their thoughts on this complex topic, including Life Time personal trainer and martial arts instructor Snake Blocker (Lipan Apache); IllumiNative executive director Angel Charley (Laguna/Zuni/Diné); author and entrepreneur Sarah Eagle Heart (Oglala Lakota); and acclaimed chef Sean Sherman (Oglala Lakota). Here, they offer 10 tips for how to be an intentional, empathetic ally to Native people.

1. Educate yourself. This is a necessary first step, according to all these experts. “If we don’t understand this country’s difficult history, we’re doomed to perpetuate it or repeat it,” says Sherman, whose Minneapolis restaurant, Owamni, serves decolonized cuisine made without European-introduced ingredients. To combat common myths — for instance, that Indigenous cultures are a monolith or are stuck in the past — social-justice organization IllumiNative offers extensive educational resources and regularly partners with Native scholars and organizations to conduct research.
2. Lean into the discomfort. “There’s an element of embracing discomfort around these challenging histories and realities while also uplifting the voices and struggles of the movement work happening throughout Indian Country,” says Charley, who has spent much of her career working to halt violence against Native women and girls. “Allies being able to sit in this discomfort is part of growth and reconciliation; it’s fundamental for our healing.”

   That includes wrestling with “white guilt” — a construct “typically motivated by the recognition of unearned and unfair racial privileges, the acknowledgement of personal racist attitudes or behavior, and/or the sense of responsibility for others’ racist attitudes or behavior,” according to a research paper in The Counseling Psychologist.

3. Do your own inner work. To be an authentic ally, you need to examine your own prejudices and preconceived notions. “Try to see yourself from the outside and reflect inward deeply about your beliefs based upon what you were taught as a child,” says Blocker, who incorporates Apache battle tactics into his martial arts classes.

   “The only way we can do that, in my experience, is in solitude and silence out in nature — no distractions, no technology. We’re losing that value of reflection.” Give yourself grace as you reflect on the past while also vowing to do better in the future.

4. Recognize your position and privilege. Similarly, “you have to dig into your own family history and understand how some of the privileges you experience have affected people from other cultures,” says Sherman. “For instance, how did your family get their farmland and what happened to the people who were removed from that place? And if you come from a space of privilege, how can you use that privilege to open doors and amplify Indigenous voices?”
5. Embrace Indigenous wisdom. Understanding Native cultures also involves understanding a Native worldview. “It’s important to take a step back and realize you most likely come from a very different worldview,” says Eagle Heart, who served as a producer on the Emmy-winning documentary Lakota Nation vs. United States. “An Indigenous worldview is really geared toward the collective, mutual respect, and harmony with nature, while a Western worldview is more focused on the individual, goals, and future outcomes.”

   All of us — and the world around us — stand to benefit from embracing Indigenous knowledge, which the United Nations deemed crucial in the fight against climate change at its 2021 conference. 

6. Listen to Native voices. “It all starts with humility and a willingness to listen,” says Blocker. “You can’t learn if you just stay in your own bubble, family, or tribe; you need to go outward and make your circle bigger for that.”

   That could be as simple as following Indigenous thought leaders on social media or watching Native-created TV shows, like Reservation Dogs and Rutherford Falls, notes Charley.

7. Speak up against discrimination. Discrimination takes some obvious forms, like offensive stereotypes and racist mascots, and more subtle ones, such as implicit bias or Indigenous invisibility — the erasure (purposeful or not) of Native contributions and cultures from society. Discrimination can take place in the workplace, in healthcare settings, and in other public and private environments.

   Even though it can be hard to do, say something when you see discrimination in action.

8. Recognize the difference between appreciation and appropriation. For far too long, non-Native businesses have profited from appropriating tribal motifs and iconography. That said, you can appreciate tribal traditions without appropriating them, such as by patronizing Native-led restaurants, wearing Native-designed fashion, and purchasing directly from Native artists. Make sure you can clearly trace the work back to an individual or group associated with a tribal community; otherwise, buyer beware.
9. Take meaningful action. Acknowledgment is insufficient without action to back it up. Supporting Indigenous entrepreneurs and donating to Native-led initiatives are easy starting points, but your support doesn’t need to be financial in nature. After you’ve equipped yourself with knowledge, Charley suggests volunteering with Indigenous-led organizations, supporting issues important to local Native communities, and using your political power — your vote and your voice — to uplift marginalized groups. 
10. Above all, center Indigenous perspectives. “In a lot of advocacy spaces, there’s a tendency for non-Natives to come in and try to ‘fix’ things for Native communities,” says Eagle Heart. “But we don’t need you to ‘fix’ us; we need you to be a companion alongside us. It’s really important in Indigenous spaces that Indigenous people lead the conversation.”
    Charley echoes that sentiment: “We are our own best advocates.”

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