Native non-profits benefit #GiveNative campaign

One of the traditional seven Lakota values is WAČÁŊTOGNAKA, or generosity. According to the Aktá Lakota Museum & Cultural Center, “WAČÁŊTOGNAKA, or generosity, means contributing to the well-being of one’s people and all life by sharing and giving freely. This sharing is not just about objects and possessions but emotions like sympathy, compassion and kindness. It also means to be generous with one’s time.”

According to the Native Ways Federation (NWF), generosity is a shared value of Native communities across Indian Country. Fortunately, the Lakota value of generosity is receiving greater emphasis in the larger culture.

In 2012 leaders at the 92nd Street Y, New York, and the United Nations Foundation decided that the Black Friday and Cyber Monday focus on consumerism could be followed immediately by a day focused on charitable giving, called Giving Tuesday.

Since 2012, Giving Tuesday has become a global generosity movement driven by individuals, organizations, communities, and charities in more than 260 communities around the world. Giving Tuesday 2023 is on November 28.

In collaboration with Giving Tuesday, the #GiveNative campaign launched on November 29, 2022. “The #GiveNative campaign is an opportunity to uplift the needs of Native communities using the globally recognized generosity platform of Giving Tuesday,” according to Carly Bad Heart Bull (Flandreau Santee), Executive Director of NWF. “Native-led organizations have the solutions to the issues our communities are facing. We know our strengths and are best positioned to help our people. #GiveNative on Giving Tuesday helps us to shed light on the importance of these Native-led nonprofits and the critical needs that only they can address – both authentically and accurately.”

In a letter recognizing National Native American Heritage Month published on November 9, 2023, Bad Heart Bull wrote, “Generosity is one of the key values that guides our work at Native Ways Federation (NWF).

“In 1990, the United States of America designated November as National American Indian Heritage Month. This month was intended as a time to learn about and celebrate the diverse stories, cultures, and contributions of the over six million Native people and 574 Native nations across this continent. It is also important to recognize that learning about, and honoring, the Indigenous nations and people of this country should not be reserved for one month out of the year because Native history is American history.

“This country was founded on Native land and is still Native land. As we all, as human beings, navigate caring for the planet and our communities, non-Native people can learn from the wisdom and experiences of Indigenous people that stem from generations of ancestral wisdom and connections to all beings. At NWF, we ask that you take this time, during the month of November, to think about and plan for how you will learn from and support Native nations and communities moving forward beyond this month. The sharing of knowledge and values that Native people hold is a gift to the world.

Bad Heart Bull talks also about traditions that remain, “The ‘season of giving’ is upon us. After all, Thanksgiving is in November. Many families who no longer celebrate the colonial context of the day still take the time to gather with family, share food, and extend gratitude. It’s also the month of Veteran’s Day (November 11th), National Philanthropy Day (November 15th), and Giving Tuesday (November 28th). These are all observations that include an emphasis on extending gratitude and recognition in some way.”

For the complete Native American Heritage Month letter from Bad Heart Bull with her suggestions for celebrating the month, visit nativeways.org, where you can also find a list of over 100 Native-led nonprofits participating in #GiveNative.

One inspiring example of Native American generosity is a well-documented account of nineteenth century Choctaws in Oklahoma sending relief funds to help starving peasant farmers during the Great Famine in Ireland. From smithsonianmag.com, news of the famine reached Choctaw in what is now Oklahoma in 1847. At the time, hundreds of thousands of Irish were dying from starvation or hunger-related diseases.

Little more than a decade had passed since the U.S. government’s brutal removal of the Choctaw from their homelands in the southeastern U.S. Their relocation was part of what is remembered as the Trail of Tears.

On their new land, many Choctaws were living in poverty with inadequate housing and little access to food. Historian Anelise Hanson Shrout noted, “It is difficult to imagine a people less well-positioned to act philanthropically.”

However, when they heard of the dire conditions in Ireland, the Choctaw were deeply moved. Despite their own impoverished circumstances, they raised either $174 or $710 (the number is disputed), the latter the equivalent of more than $5,000 today, to help with famine relief efforts.

The money collected in Choctaw Territory in 1847 went to New York City, where it was likely used to buy grain and other foodstuffs that were shipped across the Atlantic. Seven Irish newspapers published accounts of the generous Choctaw.

“The Choctaws had suffered a horrendous brutality at the hands of white Europeans, and yet despite that they could allow their humanity to supersede any prejudice they were entitled to carry,” according to Don Mullan, a modern-day Irish humanitarian, author, and filmmaker.

Waylon Gary White Deer, a distinguished Choctaw artist, explains, “As I see it, you have one poor, dispossessed people reaching out to help another poor, dispossessed people. We heard about another people who were suffering much as we had suffered, and so we must help them.”

White Deer commented, “(The famine gift story) is a story that belongs to everyone, not just Irish and Choctaw people. It’s about the power of compassion and generosity.” Since 1847, the story has been told, commemorated, and celebrated many times in many ways.

(Contact Grace Terry at grace@angelsabide.c

The post Native non-profits benefit #GiveNative campaign first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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