A group of Indigenous youth from the United States, some as young as seven, visited the United Nations Headquarters in New York this week for the first time.
Accompanied by their parents and mentors from the midwestern state of Wisconsin, the group wore handmade ribbon skirts and vests featuring seven coloured bands, each symbolizing a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of personal significance, such as good health and gender equality.
Also visiting the UN in New York for the first time that day was Brenda Reynolds, a social worker from Canada and a member of the Fishing Lake First Nation. She was joined by her husband, Robert Buckle, and 12-year-old granddaughter Lillian, and wore one of her own ribbon skirts for the occasion.
Ms. Reynolds will be awarded the 2025 United Nations Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize on 18 July. The Prize, presented every five years, recognizes two individuals whose life work exemplifies service to humanity. Ms. Reynolds will receive the award alongside Kennedy Odede, a social entrepreneur from Kenya.
Agents of change
After a UN tour (unanimously enjoyed) and a quick stop for lunch and souvenirs at the UN Bookshop (where one plushie hummingbird was traded for a green turtle named "Coral"), the group settled into a briefing room.
Onstage, Ms. Reynolds was joined by Mirian Masaquiza Jerez, a Kichwa woman from Ecuador and a Social Affairs Officer at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), easily recognized in the UN corridors for always wearing traditional regalia from her Indigenous community of Salasaka,
"Wherever you go to public spaces, wear who you are," she said. "The UN is the place to raise your voice. Be free to be who you are."
Encouraging them to speak their languages and honour their cultures, Ms. Masaquiza urged the young students to see themselves as agents of change.
"You didn't come by invitation. You came because you belong," she said. "You are the future. You are the present. As Indigenous, we have the space. Use it."
A painful past
Ms. Reynolds shared her personal story with the group, reflecting on her early career as a counsellor at Gordon's Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan, the last federally funded residential school to close in Canada.
She described seeing children as young as five separated from their families for a year at a time and issued shirts with numbers instead of their names written inside: "The only other time I had seen people identified that way was when Jewish people had numbers tattooed on them."
During her first year at Gordon's in 1988, a young girl confided that she had been abused. By the next morning, 17 would come forward, launching what would become the province's first major residential school abuse case.
Ms. Reynolds, then labeled a "troublemaker," went on to help shape the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and advise the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Her work has impacted hundreds of thousands of Indigenous People across Canada.
The room echoed with laughter, knowing nods and tears, and phrases from Ojibwe and other languages represented by the Indigenous Peoples in the room, including Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, Ojibwe, Menomonee, Oneida, Navajo, Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Afro-Indigenous communities.
Coming full circle
The youth came from the Daughters of Tradition and the Sons of Tradition, part of a long-running healing initiative by Milwaukee's Healing Intergenerational Roots (HIR) Wellness Institute, which supports Indigenous communities with no-cost, comprehensive mental healthcare and other services.
The founder, Lea S. Denny, wants Indigenous youth to see themselves in positions of power. This particular group has been together for eight years, with some heading off to college in the fall.
One father, attending with his three daughters, reflected on raising Indigenous youth in the digital age. "We want them to access the world out there," he said, "but also protect the inside world we want to hold dear." He said he also offered the advice that "if you don't see yourself on the screen, sometimes you have to be the first."
The day finished with hugs and exchanges of handmade leis as a symbol of the breath of life and sharing a good life source.
They will reunite on 18 July to see Ms. Reynolds accept the Mandela Prize in the General Assembly Hall.
Before then, a planned detour to visit Times Square.
Meanwhile, Ms. Reynolds and her family discussed their plans for a Broadway show. On the way out, she paused to hug a life-sized bronze statue of Nelson Mandela, a gift from the South African Government to the UN.
"I started my work with children," she said. "And today, I spoke to children. This feels full circle for me."
