NDN Collective

NDN Collective is an indigenous-led activist and advocacy organization based in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States. Founded in 2018, NDN Collective works with more than 200 Indigenous-led groups in the U.S. NDN Collective's mission is "Build the collective power of Indigenous Peoples, communities, and Nations to exercise our inherent right to self-determination, while fostering a world that is built on a foundation of justice and equity for all people and the planet." and includes "defend: our people, communities, and nations; develop: Indigenous communities in a regenerative and sustainable manner, and decolonize: our minds, communities, and sovereign nations." According to president and CEO Nick Tilsen (Oglala Lakota), NDN Collective has "an overall strategy to shift power, decolonize wealth, and resource Indigenous people who are on the front lines of fighting for justice and equity." NDN is operated entirely by Indigenous leadership, board, and staff that come from over 25 Tribal Nations.

Campaigns
The collective has four primary campaign areas:


 * Climate justice
 * Racial equity
 * Education equity
 * LANDBACK

The collective created its LANDBACK Campaign to support the global indigenous Land Back movement. The movement demands the return of Native American territory seized by breaking treaties, including return of Lakota territory in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where the four faces of Mount Rushmore are carved. “Wherever you go to connect to God, that’s what the Black Hills are to the Lakota,” said Nick Tilsen, president of NDN Collective. The area, known as Paha Sapa — “the heart of everything that is” is sacred to the Lakota people.

Actions
On July 3, 2020, Tilsen helped organize more than 200 people to attend, and was arrested at, a protest against the South Dakota's Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration 2020. Tilsen was charged with a combination of misdemeanors and felonies that could have led to 17 years in prison. Most charges were later dropped.

On July 4, 2021, 4 climbers were arrested after scaling a 100-foot-tall grain elevator in downtown Rapid City and hanging a gigantic, inverted American flag with the words "Land Back".

Funding
NDN Collective in late 2021 was named a recipient of a Bush Foundation grant of $50 million. The organization has announced plans to redistribute these funds to indigenous individuals in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota Through other funding, including grants from the MacArthur and Skoll Foundations, NDN redistributes capital through two loan pools. The Social Enterprise & Economic Development for Indigenous Growth (SEEDING) program offers loans of $500,000 or more, while the Relief & Resilience program provides small business loans to Indigenous entrepreneurs.

Prominent donors to NDN Collective include Mackenzie Scott, in 2021, due to her concerns about wealth inequality, discrimination, and the need for investment in education, and the Jeff Bezos Earth Fund, which in 2020 donated $12 million for their work against climate change.

NDN Collective was also funded by the Target Foundation in 2022, as one of its "Ecosystem" grant recipients.

Indigenous-led school
NDN Collective opened Oceti Sakowin Community Academy, an independent, Indigenous-led school for Native students in Rapid City, with approximately 40 students in September 2022. The school is based upon the Native American Community Academy (NACA) and NACA-inspired schools network (NISN). Mary Bowman, founder of the school, said, "Culturally responsive pedagogy helps students to be engaged, motivated, and develop a strong cultural identity." The opening of this school represents a first step towards the NDN Collective's goals of education equity for Indigenous students.