2018 Pueblo of Isleta Gathering

Today, tribal nations across the country are addressing the future health of their tribal culture and language, the health of their communities, the protection of sacred sites, and climate challenges. Historically, each tribe has faced similar challenges and in many situations intertribal dialogue and support promoted tribal success. Now, tribal nations have the same opportunity to work together to successfully address their concerns. With this directive, the CPIC group invites indigenous peoples from across the world to attend this year’s gathering.

As advised by the CPIC gathering members, this year’s gathering will focus on three themes based on the CPIC’s four areas of focus. Each themed discussion will begin with establishing a cultural foundation by sharing songs, prayers, and teachings. This connection will be followed by a conversation identifying existing opportunities and how to build intertribal partnership based on these initiatives. Each themed conversation will conclude with groups identifying the next steps needed to create framework, tribal formatting, and intertribal task forces. Each themed conversation will then end with establishing next steps.

Theme One: Tribal Food Resiliency

Theme one will include cultural components that integrate traditional food harvesting and preparation. We will identify current initiatives working with traditional food frameworks. Then we will discuss what we want future tribal food initiatives on the plateau to look like and what norms we would like to establish in tribal households, communities, and ceremonies.

Theme Two: Culture-Based Economies

Here, we will discuss cultural components that shaped traditional tribal economics; highlight current initiatives working in a culturally rooted intertribal economy framework; and collaborate to create a vision of what we would like intertribal economies to look like and how we can reach that goal.

Theme Three: The Rights of Nature

This session will begin with an introduction to The Rights of Nature movement, followed by breakout sessions to discuss tribal teachings that establish our relationships to the environment. We will then discuss opportunities from The Rights of Nature that can be transformed into community initiatives. This will be followed by future conversations on tribal policy initiatives.