Pheži Ĥóta Naĝí-wiŋ, Sierra Red Bow (Oglála Lakȟóta), UW graduate from American Indian Studies and Environmental Science and Resource Management 2021, now works at EchoX (Ethnic Cultural Heritage Online Exchange), an ethnic and cultural nonprofit, which hosts over 1,800 cultural organizations and individuals belonging to over 120 different cultures based in the Pacific Northwest, fifty-six of which are American Indian or Alaska Native cultures. She’s specifically been working on a beautiful directory that allows anyone to connect to these groups easily in one place. The well-organized and extensive directory allows visitors to search by Community Focus, such as Culture, Faith, Gender & Sexuality, or by Resource type, including options for Media, Language, and Knowledge Holders.
The AIS Department is particularly excited to see a community driven site and directory like this one, as we often receive requests for these types of connections and resources. Now we have the perfect site to send people to, and know there’s up to date, easily accessible information available.
The site also features community news highlights, artist spotlights, a cultural events calendar, and digital skills workshops for high school students. One of the pages we know will get a lot of use is the Guide to Indigenous Land and Territorial Acknowledgments. If you, or an organization you know of, is working to create a land acknowledgment, this guide is an amazing and thoughtful resource.
We knew Sierra would do some great things and she’s proving us right, right away. What a cool organization to be involved with. Check out the directory and EchoX’s other amazing work and we hope you’ll share it with friends, family, and more.
If you know of any artists, culture bearers, or organizations that should be in the EchoX directory, Sierra invites you to contact her at sierra@echox.org.