Guidance for Requests & Prospective Partnerships – or
“How to Come Correct”
Greetings and thank you for your interest in partnering. Before reaching out, please read below to avoid unintentionally replicating historical harms.
First, please understand that our department is operating at extremely low capacity. We are simply unable to field the number of requests for (almost always uncompensated) time, labor and energy that come our way.
We will therefore prioritize requests from Tribal, Native, Black and Indigenous-led or -serving groups, and those offering clear benefit to our students or program—in other words, those seeking to build reciprocal, mutually beneficial relationships.
Concrete actions toward reciprocity might include providing speaker honoraria, joining us for an Oak Savanna tending day, offering a site visit or skill share for students, donating classroom or field supplies, or contributing to our ITECK fund that supports student projects and internships.
Second, we invite you to read (or at least skim!) How to Come Correct, developed by the incredible Land protectors at The Sogorea Te’ Land Trust in California. A couple of key points:
- Indigenous People are not a check box. How does your request meaningfully benefit Indigenous community?
- Don’t ask Indigenous people for Land acknowledgements.
- Take action to learn whose Land you’re on and how to protect her while supporting Indigenous sovereignty.
Also note that we are not experts on every aspect of tribal cultures (no one is), nor are we conduits for communicating with tribal governments.
If you are ready to request engagement, please don’t hesitate! Contact iteck@pdx.edu.
With care,
Indigenous Nations Studies