For so many people in the United States, indigenous communities are still imagined as characters

from an old western film. Cowboys and Indians, feathers and horses, campfire legends, hauntings,

and museum displays. They are often spoken about as if they belong only to the past, as if the

first peoples of this land disappeared the second

the frontier was declared conquered.

But indigenous communities are not a faded part of American folklore.

More than 200 million indigenous people continue to live on their ancestral lands across the

world today.

They are among the most endangered human populations on earth,

yet they remain the most vital protectors of the natural world. Indigenous knowledge reflects

thousands of years of sustainable land stewardship. These communities have shaped practices rooted

in balance, respect, and survival. They cultivate crops built for hard climates. They manage water and care with precision.

They build homes that work with the land, not against it. Forests, coastlines, and wildlife thrive under their guidance.

Today, indigenous managed lands include a staggering portion of the planet's remaining intact ecosystems.

They protect biodiversity, store vast amounts of carbon, and provide proven solutions to our changing climate.

Despite this, the original people of what is now the United States are too often treated as if their story ended long ago.

However, the truth is more upsetting.

The violence that began centuries ago never truly stopped. It simply changed forms.

Instead of battles on open plains, there is systemic poverty. Instead of forced marches,

there's food scarcity, limited health care, and some of the lowest

life expectancies in the country.

Voices that advocate for sovereignty and survival are silenced through surveillance, imprisonment,

...