Gaby Strong
Liberating Wealth
What does it mean to liberate wealth? Today we talk with Gaby Strong about generosity, operating from abundance, and defining wealth as Indigenous people.
Gaby is a citizen of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Oyate. She has over 35 years of experience in the tribal, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors, and is currently the NDN Foundation Managing Director.
More about NDN Collective here.
TRANSCRIPT
Leah:
Boozhoo. I'm Leah Lemm. Citizen of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
Daniel:
Hau Mitakuyapi, I'm Daniel Lemm, citizen of Lower Sioux Dakota Oyate.
Leah:
And this is Wisdom Continuum. We are bringing you conversations from awesome Native folks to celebrate Native wisdom for a healthier, thoughtful, more just future.
Daniel:
Today, we have a great guest and we'll be talking about generosity.
Leah:
All right.
Daniel:
Today's guest is Gaby Strong. Gaby is a citizen of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Oyate. She has over 35 years of experience in the tribal, nonprofit philanthropic sectors, and is currently the NDN Foundation Managing Director. Gaby's community and professional experience has centered on Indian education, Indian child welfare, native history, language, and life ways, leadership and community development.
Leah:
So NDN Collective is an Indigenous led organization. And from its website, it says it's dedicated to building Indigenous power through organizing activism, philanthropy, grant making, capacity building and narrative change. So that is super awesome. And the NDN Foundation is a part of that. So before we jump into chatting with Gaby, again, super excited, Daniel, what does generosity mean to you?
Daniel:
You know, sometimes I have to think about what does generosity mean, and I think it's just how we share resources, share ourselves with our communities. So maybe in a way, replacing generosity with sharing, but it's really about how we relate to others and how do we ensure that if we have something, how do we give that to others? How do we share that with others in a way that we are all better off?
Leah:
Yeah. And I think of that as material things or money or even words and friendship. And also without expecting something in return. That's what generosity means to me. But I'll be interested in hearing more of what Gaby has to say. Because, generosity can be casual. I don't know what else to say it. It can be unorganized.
Daniel:
Informal.
Leah:
Informal. Thank you. See, thank you for your help. Yes. It can be informal or formal along the spectrum between informal and informal. So we'll hear more about that from Gaby. So with that said, let's bring her in.
Gaby Strong:
Hey, good to see you guys.
Leah:
Yeah. Thanks for taking time to chat. Our topic of today is generosity. So I'm going to let Daniel take it away.
Daniel:
Gaby, as Leah said, we want to talk with you today about generosity, and how you have experienced it informally and formally in Native communities. And so with that, Gaby, I'm wondering if you would please introduce yourself.
Gaby Strong:
Hau Mitakuyapi. Greetings relatives, good to see you both today. Just turned off the camera because I think the connection is a little unstable, but good to be here with both of you. Gaby strong [Dakota Introduction]. So my English name is, is Gaby Strong. My Dakota name is sacred breath woman. That's the translation. Some say that just means Gaby. But sharing this greeting in our language, our Dakota language, the original language of these homelands here of Mni Sota, which translates to where the waters reflect the sky. So I'm a citizen of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Oyate, also Mdewakanton, so share this connection to our Mni Sota Makoce, which are our traditional Homelands here. So good to be with you mother, grandmother, and currently serving as the managing director of the NDN Collective and its foundation arm, which is headquartered in Rapid Cities, South Dakota.
Daniel:
Well, thank you for that Gaby. And Gaby and I have known each other for years. Won't say how many years, but it's one of those things where I've learned a ton from Gaby in our time of knowing each other. And I consider Gaby to be not only a teacher of mine, also a friend. So it's a pleasure to have you here, Gaby. And so on this topic about generosity, Gaby, what is generosity to you?
Gaby Strong:
Well, I think in our value system as Dakota people, generosity and several other virtues or values really were the foundation of our lives. And generosity helped us to be really mindful of one another, as relatives and as part of a kinship system. And our kinship system was based on the [foreign language 00:06:33] which translates to the people that lived together in the lodge as the [foreign language 00:06:41] which is the extended family or those who cook together, which is one of the translations of that, those who come together to cook together and then the Oyate, which is the people, the nation. And so as families, as extended families, we then make up the Oyate. And it is the greater good of the Oyate that was the foundation for who we were as a people, which meant that generosity and compassion, [foreign language 00:07:16] was part of that.
Gaby Strong:
And, so it meant that we had to be good relatives. That was a value system, and through our generosity and taking care of one another and ensuring that the health and wellbeing of everyone around us, was part of that. That we weren't okay unless everybody was okay. That it was all of us or none of us. And, that is, I think, a foundational principle or value or a virtue that guided our lives, and continues to do that. Now there have been challenges to those systems and to those principles and belief systems as we well know. But I think we continue to claim them, to reclaim them in some cases. And so generosity continues to be one of those foundational virtues.
Daniel:
That's great. And, you talked about claiming and reclaiming. What are some examples of ways that we're claiming or reclaiming generosity in our communities?
Gaby Strong:
Well, I think in the ways in which we take care of one another, as we try to live healthy lives and to ensure that the health and wellbeing of everyone around us is at the center of all that we do. I think decision making that is based on that principle is what helps us to show that generosity very clearly. Now, again, the kind of hierarchical systems that we now have to grapple with, and in many cases, dismantle, continue to be a challenge to us. And, I'll share a brief story, because working in the field of philanthropy or as a funder, and Dan, you have done so yourself for many years, there's the gospel of wealth that was written by Andrew Carnegie. And in his time, as you think about the turn of the century, 1900s, he was one of the wealthiest men in his time. In his era.
Gaby Strong:
Probably would be the equivalent of a Bill Gates or the Jeff Bezos of his time. But, in his time, actually visited our people. He visited Dakota people at that time. And he wrote about it in this gospel of wealth, where he was really in awe of the reciprocity and generosity that he saw amongst the people, and that the leadership, or who he saw as leaders, didn't necessarily live any better or more extravagantly or luxuriously than the rest of the people. That the people...
Gaby Strong:
... were taken care of and that was the role of leadership. The role of leadership and the role of people in the community was to ensure that everybody was cared for in this really equitable way. And it blew his mind, and he wrote about it. But despite that, he still carried out a system of charity, as one of the major philanthropists of his time, where he firmly believed that rich, mostly white folks, mostly white males need to be making decisions about the resource and resourcing of others, which was poor people and immigrants and people of color.
Gaby Strong:
And so, that was his belief and that belief system and that design is still threaded through that philanthropic institution, the institution of philanthropy that we know today. And so, that's just one example of systems that were designed in a certain way that is in opposition to the systems in which we flourished as Indigenous people. And so, that is part of the reclaiming. And there's a lot of work to do. There's a lot of work to do behind that, but I see this younger generation just really on fire in wanting to do just that.
Leah:
Absolutely. Gaby, could you take a moment to introduce NDN Collective and the foundation? Kind of maybe give it a brief overview?
Gaby Strong:
Yeah. So, NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization. It is built upon the principles of defend, develop, and decolonize. And so by defend, we believe in defending our people, our communities, our lands and resources from negative forces, including the extraction industry. Develop is to develop communities based on regenerative principles. And to decolonize is that reclamation of language, life with ceremony, and that connection to land.
Gaby Strong:
And we are indeed, a collective, so we are comprised of several entities that make up the collective. So the foundation is the grant making arm. Fund, NDN Fund is the investment and lending arm, a CDFI, Community, Financial Development Institution. NDN Action is the organizing and advocacy arm. There is even a C4 entity that does take on lobbying and policy and advocacy work. And then there is NDN partners and holdings, which is the for-profit arm, the business arm. And then at the hub, in the center of that is all of the shared services or cross-functional kinds of programming that is necessary to carry that all out, communications, human resources, operations. And so, communications messaging and narrative change is very much at the center of our work as well.
Gaby Strong:
And so, we believe all of those things are necessary for change, for significant change. And we are just barely three years old. We just turned three years old in October of 2021. And I will have been with NDN, will be two years next month. So, a long time in and the life of the organization.
Leah:
Yeah.
Gaby Strong:
But I would also just add, is that the origins of NDN come out of the vision, Thunder Valley, Nick Tilsen's work at Thunder Valley on Pine Ridge. As well as the direct action and camp at Standing Rock, which sparked a global movement around climate change and water and land protection, and those kinds of systemic inequities. And that's a long history of Indigenous resistance, that Standing Rock, which then became a significant pivotal moment in our history of Indigenous resistance. And so, a lot of the vision that that came out of that is what then birthed NDN Collective.
Leah:
Gaby, so you've worked at many different organizations, Native and non-Native, giving organizations. And now at NDN Collective or the foundation part of that, how does its giving compare to other places? How does NDN Collective in the foundation make decisions that might differ? Or how does it compare?
Gaby Strong:
Well, I think, of course, we're always asking ourselves, "How do we set ourselves apart from what we've seen in institutional philanthropy?" I think first and foremost, is that we're Indigenous people ourselves. We come from the communities that we also want to support and resource. So, we don't just bring an academic expertise or the professional expertise, which is oftentimes in those non-Indigenous systems, the primary value to your worth. But we bring lived experience and insight to our work.
Gaby Strong:
And so, we are community practitioners ourselves. So bringing that to our work, I think, is what sets us apart. And I think also that we prioritize community self-determination, which is one of our core strategies. Which was very different from, I think, most philanthropic institutions, which have their own set of priorities and strategies, and always look for alignment. And those that can align with what their priorities are, we want to align with what community priorities are.
Gaby Strong:
So in conversations with community and people that are seeking resources for their efforts, the conversation is very different. And although we get asked the common questions that most funders get is, "Does this fit? Does this align?" We flip that constantly, and tell those that are seeking the support, "Well, what do you think? You tell us. Does this fit and align with what your priorities are? You tell us what you think is best." And so that is very different. That's a new way of resourcing our people.
Gaby Strong:
And I think the other major and significant difference is that we're funding grassroots and community based organizations that have gone under resourced, overlooked, under invested, underestimated full for years. So I think that is a significant difference, that we are really funding those community organizers, those frontliners, direct action folks who are closest to the issues, closest to the issues, closest to the pain, closest to the solution building.
Gaby Strong:
And I think that's the other issue, is that we're not looking at just needs, which I think for far too long, our needs and our gaps have always kind of driven funding and funders. But that robs us of an opportunity to really vision and look at solutions and planning. So instead of being the ambulance waiting at bottom of the cliff, based on the highest need, how are we building those guardrails up above? How are we going to the river source to figure out what is really needed for our own prosperity? That's a different kind of thinking than being constantly needs based, deficit driven. What is the most significant disparity that we need to be mindful of? But what is our greatest strength and opportunity as well?
Leah:
Well, it sounds like... So NDN Collective, what I see, a lot of it is about solutions on Indigenous terms. And when it comes to the foundation arm, and the giving arm, and addressing the strengths, by doing so it also in effect a dresses disparities. Am I understanding that correctly?
Gaby Strong:
Yep. That's our theory of change.
Leah:
Great.
Gaby Strong:
Defend and to develop and to decolonize.
Leah:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Gaby Strong:
Yes, exactly.
Daniel:
Earlier, talked about Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos being kind of the today's version of an...
Daniel:
... Andrew Carnegie. So I'm wondering, if a Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos or somebody with an incredible amount of money came to visit our communities today, what is something that they could learn from us about generosity?
Gaby Strong:
First of all, they've got to give it all back.
Leah:
There you go. Land back.
Gaby Strong:
They've got to repatriate all that wealth, because, yeah. And that's what we're about. We don't fundraise in the traditional sense of the word, or at least in the traditional institutional philanthropic sense of the word, because we believe that all that wealth needs to be rematriated, repatriated back into Indigenous communities and BIPOC communities. So that's first and foremost, and anything less than that is just incremental. So nobody should have that much while so many others go without. And I'm not so much out spending time educating those folks any more, because obviously Andrew Carnegie came out, saw something really amazing, and didn't do a darn thing about it. Other funders have continuously visited our communities and been told the same things or seen some really incredible things and they don't do much or anything about it.
Gaby Strong:
They haven't changed up their style in many ways. And that is because they like to have the onus of control and decision making being within their system, the control of resources and where they go and how they're deployed within that system. And that's what needs to shift and change. And so that's our message. So I'm less about teaching them about generosity, because they've had a chance to learn about generosity, and how many times have we done donor education and written reports and all kinds of things? When the fact of the matter, they just need to start taking some action right now.
Gaby Strong:
Because we've lived through Standing Rock, which was a pivotal moment in history, we then lived through this pandemic, which we're still in, which has laid bare all kinds of inequities. We then lived through this racial justice reckoning in our country after the murder of George Floyd, the public lynching of George Floyd in our own backyard in Minneapolis. And so there's no more time for these niceties and platitudes, in my humble opinion. I'm just one woman, but that's our message. It's time for real action right now.
Leah:
Gaby, when NDN Collective was awarded the Bush Foundation, the $50 million, is that aligned then with what you're talking about, with changing who gets to decide where the money goes?
Gaby Strong:
Yeah. So a couple clarifiers about that. So what we have, we've been selected along with Nexus Community Partners, which is the Black-led organization in the Twin Cities as well. And what we do have right now is a planning grant for one year. That planning, so we don't have $50 million in our coffers yet, but what we do have is a planning grant, which will take us through this next year, where we are going to plan and design what that will look like with community. And we hired somebody, she's going to be announced, I don't mind saying it's Terri Peterson, Dan, she's going to lead that effort for the year. We're absolutely thrilled that she's going to do that. And planning started last week, she convened in Minneapolis.
Leah:
Gotcha.
Gaby Strong:
But Indigenizing wealth, what does it mean? And not just in capitalist terms of how much money do you owe or how much assets do you have and money in the bank and saving, but what is wealth to us as Indigenous people? How do we define wealth? And so not purely in those capitalist terms, but what do we consider to be wealth? And then how do we design and resource that for our people? So we're funding individuals. This is intended to go directly to individuals. So when the $50 million comes in late 2022 so that we can start dispersing that in accordance with this planning and design phase has revealed and shown us.
Leah:
Mm-hmm.
Gaby Strong:
That's a start. That's just a start. And this is what we mean. This is what other foundations need to take notice of. And others are starting to do that. You're seeing a lot of assets being signed over, land being given back. That's what we mean by liberating wealth. Not fundraising, but liberating wealth.
Leah:
I like that. I'm going to write that down. Liberating wealth.
Gaby Strong:
Yeah. I always say no more dog and pony shows. The time of dog and pony shows are over, that era is over.
Leah:
I just feel like even looking and reading through NDN Collective's resources and posts and everything like that, I feel my perspective shifting. I think I have such a different perspective, more trying to be Native foundational with the work that I do. But then I see NDN Collective's and I'm like, "Oh, I've got so much more to do." And that's fun for me to see, but I was just going to ask Gaby if there's anything that you want to particularly say that we're not asking that you want to be sure to highlight as we're going through this conversation.
Gaby Strong:
Yeah. I think one of the significant challenge but yet opportunity is shifting our own thinking from that real scarcity mindset which we've been conditioned to, grown up in, to an abundance mindset. Because we've been, you look at our history, our very personal experiences of our parents, our grandparents, our great-grandparents. Their experiences through boarding school, being removed, being disconnected from their very lands, from the resources, and our people having to just really struggle to feed themselves oftentimes, to where there is this abundance around us that we can tap into. And trying to shift that thinking, it was a challenge for me too. And when it comes to resources available to our community, the truth is there is an abundance of resources, but we've been taught that there's only this little piece of pie that we all have to compete over and try to be the best to get that one piece that then only feeds a certain few.
Gaby Strong:
But there is more than enough. And that's available to us, and what we're fighting for is the accessibility to that. And instead of competing for it, competing for that, that we all deserve it, we all need that. And so fighting for the access to that abundance of resources, and even around us, looking at what's around us, the land, our people, the genius and the brilliance that is around us. So it's that shifting of our thinking about things. And it's hard sometimes because we do, we experience a lot that challenges that. So it is shifting thinking of gratitude to gratitude and abundance just on a personal level, and an organizational culture level has really helped in that way to continue this work.
Daniel:
That's awesome, Gaby. Talking about people, about genius, about relationships, about land. It's not only about money, it's also the other resources that exist out there. How did you either make that shift, or how did you come to the perspective of abundance? It's something that, you touched on this a little bit, it's maybe harder for a lot of people to make that shift to that abundance mindset. How did you do that, or how do you see the-
Daniel:
... the world from abundance?
Gaby Strong:
Yeah, I have to say that being with like-minded people, such as those that I'm surrounded by at NDN Collective was probably one of those significant turning points for me. Because I've always tried to live a life from gratitude. And my mother always would say, "No matter how bad you think you have it, there's always someone that has it worse. So always be grateful for what you have. Always be thankful for what you have." And I think, working in the field of philanthropy for so long, there was that like that scarcity mindset and that's what drives it, right? That's what drives them, the grant makers and the grant seekers. And the truth is there is abundance. That's the absolute truth. But people like us don't have the opportunity, haven't had the opportunity to decide and be part of that decision making of what happens with that abundance of resources.
Gaby Strong:
So that's part of it. But then even on a personal level, just living your daily life, just looking at the beauty around you each and every day of what is there. The simplest of things and it isn't about stuff or materialism, but just what you're surrounded by. I'm surrounded by beautiful land and horses, and a family that's loving. And so that's a mindset of abundance every day.
Daniel:
Gaby, I think my neck is going to hurt after this conversation with all the head nodding.
Leah:
You're just nodding your head.
Daniel:
That was beautiful, Gaby. Thank you for sharing.
Leah:
Yeah, that's really wonderful. I know whenever I'm... I feel like it's such a struggle sometimes to witness the, as we talked about earlier, the disparities and the lack, a lot of times. But really, our people are such a great strength. And so if we can just be generous to one another, we not just, but if we can be generous to one another how far can we go with practicing that, I think is really telling. I know just, even with me and Daniel, in our little family and Marvin, how can we be generous to one another and build each other up and to make our family stronger? So what does that do on a larger scale in the community? So I see a lot of hope in that. I feel less grumpy when I think about that.
Gaby Strong:
Yeah, Absolutely. Absolutely. I really appreciated this time with you and...
Leah:
Oh, yes. Well, thank you so much, Gaby. I really appreciate you taking the time to chat with us.
Gaby Strong:
All right. Sounds good. All right. Take care of you too.
Daniel:
Thanks Gaby. Thanks for being so generous.
Gaby Strong:
Tókša
Leah:
All right. Gaby Strong citizen of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Oyate and the NDN foundation managing director. How about that? Liberating wealth, Indigenizing wealth. I'm like my heart is racing, trying to keep up. I love it so much.
Daniel:
And moving from learning to taking action.
Leah:
Exactly. Exactly. So how are you going to take action, Dan?
Daniel:
That is a great question, Leah. What do you think?
Leah:
You just bounce back to me.
Daniel:
Exactly.
Leah:
You know, I am going to message a few people and tell people how much I appreciate their work. I am going to see if there's any way I can help support people's work. I have a few people in mind, so I think that's what I'll do next. At least in the short term.
Daniel:
You know, it's that practice of gratitude that Gaby talked about a few times is something that's important on a daily basis to show gratitude, to be grateful for what it is that we have. And I think, kind of low hanging fruit here it's, I'll have a conversation with Marvin about gratitude. And I talk with him from time to time about being grateful for our family, be grateful for the gifts that he receives from loved ones and from friends. And to continue to have the conversation with him about abundance and being grateful in how... You know, this conversation from Gaby, this is a wealth of knowledge that she shared with us. And in one of those things where, when I talked in the beginning about her being a teacher and a good friend of mine, this is exactly what I was talking about. And I'm always learning from Gaby and always grateful for what she shares with me and with us.
Leah:
Well, and more so is that she shows, right. She shows it. And so when I'm thinking about, well, even our parenting with Marvin, like how can we show him how to be grateful?
Daniel:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Leah:
How can we show him instead of the lecture? Okay, maybe not lecture but lengthy discussion. So yes. But yeah, it's really exciting. I feel lighter just listening to Gaby talk.
Daniel:
Yeah. I mean, I always think it's a good day when I learn something new and I've got lots to learn, trust me.
Leah:
Oh, yeah.
Daniel:
Gaby's got a lot, that's why when you ask the question, what is something I'm going to do? It's like, I've got like 10 things in my mind and I'm kind of paralyzed about which one to pick. So thank you for the pause and you going first with that question.
Leah:
Of course.
Daniel:
We are talking with so many great people and we want to say that your input matters too. Do you know of someone who's working on systems change or centering Indigenous values, or do you have a topic or interview suggestion? If so, then email wisdomcontinuum AT gmail DOT com.
Leah:
Find Wisdom Continuum online at wisdomcontinuum.com and on social media, on Instagram and Twitter @wisdomcontinuum. Thank you to Wisdom Continuum's consulting producer, Multitude and big ol miigwech to Manda Lillie for the production help. I'm Leah.
Daniel:
I'm Daniel. This is Wisdom Continuum.
