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Natives at Penn is UPenn’s Native student organization representing Native American, Native Hawaiian, Alaska Native, and Indigenous students. We are dedicated to increasing awareness of Native & Indigenous culture, history, and contemporary issues while providing community for Native students and allies.

History

Natives at Penn was founded in 1994 as Six Directions. Student leaders such as Desiree Martinez, Bryan Brayboy, Sabrina Austin, Jaime Hale, Wendy Green, Vanessa Iyua, Megan Red Shirt Shaw, Talon Ducheneaux, Rosalis BadHorse and many others began the decades long work of cultivating this community. We been supported by Native/Indigenous community members, faculty, staff, and alumni, as well as allies in the Penn community.

NAP undergraduates and graduate students plan programs to increase awareness of contemporary Native/Indigenous issues, attend inter-school events such as the Ivy Native Conference, work with the Office of Admissions to sponsor recruitment efforts, and host Penn’s Annual Powwow every year. Apart from engaging with the Penn community, NAP students also attend events hosted by local tribes and are supported by the partnerships they create within their own communities as well. Members of NAP represent nations from across Indian country including the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, Oglala Lakota, Diné, Cheyenne River Sioux, Micmaq, Lumbee, Schaghticoke, Choctaw, Miskito, Washoe, Tuscarora, Mescalero Apache, Cherokee, Potawatomi, Navajo, and Zuni Pueblo.

NAP is open to everyone – you may have been highly involved and know your culture and traditions, or you may be someone who knows they have Native/Indigenous heritage but have limited knowledge of their culture or history, or you may even be someone who does not identify as Native/Indigenous but is interested in learning more about Native/Indigenous issues. We are excited to welcome all and know that we can accomplish a lot together in the coming years.

A Brief Land Acknowledgement

*The University of Pennsylvania is located on “Lenapehoking,” the homelands of the Lenape–also known as the Lenni-Lenape or the Delaware Indians. Descendants include the Delaware Tribe and Delaware Nation of Oklahoma; the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, Ramapough Lenape, Powhatan Renape of New Jersey, and the Munsee Delaware of Ontario. The Lenape in Philadelphia have been stewards of this land for many generations. We acknowledge the harmful legacy of colonialism that is perpetuated by institutions like the University of Pennsylvania. Natives at Penn thanks the Lenape and community elders for their involvement and support of our group since its earliest days!