Welcome to Tallgrass Institute! A Message from Founder Kate R. Finn
With all of the considerable market and political shifts occurring right now – the effects of climate change occurring in real time, and both the increase of Indigenous economic power in some parts of the world and decrease in safety for Indigenous human rights defenders in others – I see now as a critical moment to embed systems change. Now is the time to insert new and creative approaches rooted firmly in the Indigenous worldview so that the change itself solidifies just as molten lava becomes rock, supporting sustainable ecosystems for generations to come.
Welcome to Tallgrass Institute, a Center for Indigenous Economic Stewardship. I am honored to take the work that the team at First Peoples Worldwide at CU Boulder has been leading since 2018 and move it to this Center. While our name and brand has changed, our role remains the same: connecting Indigenous Peoples’ perspectives, solutions, and leadership with investors and the private sector.
I find inspiration in our namesake species, tallgrass, to ground the work we are undertaking. Tallgrass is a keystone species on the plains in North America. It roots deep, holding together earth and storing carbon; building a web of resources for current and future growth. The roots are often several times taller than the top grass itself, which regenerates year to year based on environmental conditions. Tallgrass species have also experienced colonization, now residing on only 4% of the land they used to inhabit. But where there is tallgrass, there is ecosystem health, resilience, and thriving.
All of our work is motivated by advancing the self-determination of Indigenous Peoples, guided by their enduring values, stories, and cultures. The depth of story, of persistence and resistance, and the complexity of language and cosmovision inform Indigenous definitions of economic wellness and thriving. Roots as deep as our human story. Our work as a Center for Indigenous Economic Stewardship is to steward – to care for with intentionality, time, and foresight – those visions to be part of building strong and healthy communities.
The modern economic realities of Indigenous Peoples around the globe are distinct, as are the tools and leverage that each investor and capital steward brings. We will continue to create research, tools, and networks to connect a web of partners that begins to weave new systems; systems that mainstream narratives of Indigenous strength, expertise, and wellbeing. The fullness of economic thriving envisioned requires partnership and care to remain in right relationship as we work towards collaboration and equity among stewards.
The strategies we will use to fulfill this role are economic and market-based. The markets continue to undervalue consent and Indigenous Peoples’ participation in local development projects and transnational financial deals. We will contour trainings around Indigenous knowledge to activate shareholder advocacy, and forward values-aligned research that creates a pathway towards ripe engagement. We will also continue to build investor knowledge and action towards integration of Indigenous priorities in portfolio construction, investment, and corporate practice. Our work at Tallgrass Institute is to amplify Indigenous insights from around the world and encourage creative capital approaches that value the fullness of economic, social, and cultural wellbeing.
Finally, my connection with tallgrass is personal as well. While I myself grew up in Denver, the story of tallgrass prairie and visiting family in Osage county linger in my mind with a sweet grassy smell. I want to honor the ecological knowledge and sustaining value that something as essential and familiar and beautiful as grass is. But that’s what I’m aiming for: for many generations forward to live in a world where Indigenous Peoples’ rights and being are respected and honored in the story of everyday life.
~Kate
