Indigenous St. Louis

The STLr City Working Group

A photograph of Dresser Island, a lake with still waters reflecting clouds — ^{Dresser Island, Upper Mississippi Conservation Area. Photo by Eric Pinto.}

Indigenous St. Louis is a growing coalition of individuals, universities, and cultural institutions working to deepen relationships between our members, local Native communities, and Native nations with ties to the St. Louis region.

Our goals are to:

1. Strengthen networks of St. Louis organizations stepping into Native-facing work, particularly work related to Native history, knowledge, education, and culture

2. Support collaboration between Native communities and organizations engaged in Native-facing work

3. Take stock of best practices for this work in the region

4. Lay foundations for future projects and partnerships that move Native issues, Native senses of place, and Native voices closer to the center of St. Louis’ public sphere

In the Fall of 2022, the STLr City working group (now Indigenous St. Louis) was established through a grant from the Divided City. This effort was animated by a groundswell of Native-facing work by local institutions—exhibitions, classes, and other initiatives such as the Alliance for Native Programs & Initiatives—but was also a response to the many challenges to deeper engagement that structure St. Louis’ settler institutional landscape.

In 2023, our work proceeded along two parallel tracks. First, we engaged in a months-long listening and relationship-building process with local Native communities, centered on a series of potlucks and other events. Second, our membership traveled to Oklahoma to meet with several Native nations in May. Both of these processes helped us to take stock of best practices for Native-facing work in the region, and to identify areas of future projects and partnerships. The working group also expanded to include Native community members and other institutional partners.

As of 2023, our membership consists of Native community members from the region and multiple universities and cultural institutions, including multiple units at WashU; the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies, the Program of American Cultural Studies, the Department of Art History & Archaeology, the Department of Anthropology, the Program of Environmental Studies, the Midwest Climate Collaborative, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, and the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts; Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Program in Native American Studies, St. Louis University’s Department of American Studies, Principia College’s Program in Art History, University of Missouri–St. Louis, Missouri Humanities, the Missouri Historical Society, the Saint Louis Zoo’ Center for Native Pollinator Conservation, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, the Horseman Foundation, Counterpublic, the Northside Workshop, the William L. Brown Center at the Missouri Botanical Garden, and Tower Grove Park.

We maintain a community email list where we share upcoming Native-facing events in the STL region. If you are interested in joining the list—or wish to get in touch with the working group—please email indigenous.stlouis@gmail.com.