NewCO Framework · Indigenous Solidarity Guide

Allies for Indigenous Peoples

Key Findings Organized by Theme — Do's and Don'ts for Meaningful Solidarity

Accomplice-Ship LANDBACK Mutual Aid Decolonization Active Objection Indigenous Sovereignty
The Fundamental Shift
Avoid: The Ally Industrial Complex
  • Performative solidarity as identity or badge
  • Saving / missionary / savior posture
  • Setting the agenda on behalf of communities
  • Parachuting in for visible crises, then disappearing
  • Land acknowledgments as endpoint
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Pursue: Accomplice-Ship
  • Shared risk, mutual consent, direct action
  • Service posture — tactical support to Indigenous compass
  • Following Indigenous-led organizations' direction
  • Sustained, material, relational commitment
  • Material restitution and LANDBACK as foundation
The Solidarity Spectrum
Performative Ally Badge-wearing · No risk
Transactional Helper Helpful · Paternalistic
Active Supporter Follower · Service posture
Accomplice Shared risk · Material commitment
10 Themes: Do's & Don'ts
Theme 01
Rethink Allyship — The Ally Industrial Complex
DO
Examine your motivations honestly before acting
Aim for accomplice-ship with shared risk
Accept personal consequences of confronting colonial systems
DON'T
Treat allyship as a badge or career move
Position yourself as a savior or expert
Soften Indigenous demands to appease funders
Theme 02
From "Helping" to "Service" — Posture and Power
DO
Defer to Indigenous-led organizations as strategic compass
Ask "How can we support your work?" then listen
Provide logistical "rations" without conditions
DON'T
Set the agenda or launch new competing programs
Arrive announcing "I'm here to help!"
Impose colonial urgency or bureaucratic timelines
Theme 03
Ask Permission First — Consent and Access
DO
Ask explicit permission before gatherings on traditional homelands
Ask before photographing ceremonies or sacred spaces
Build relationships slowly, on the community's terms
DON'T
Assume any land is freely available for your use
Record or publicize ceremonies without consent
Treat past invitations as blanket permission
Theme 04
Internal Reckoning — Auditing Settler Complicity
DO
Research specific history of land dispossession you occupy
Audit institution's finances and infrastructure for colonial ties
Sit with discomfort — do your own healing work
DON'T
Use land acknowledgments as a substitute for real reckoning
Assume good intentions exempt you from complicity
Turn to Indigenous communities to process your guilt
Theme 05
Avoid Spiritual Appropriation
DO
Develop your own non-appropriative spiritual practices
Engage with Indigenous peoples as political partners
Disentangle spirituality from colonial religious forms
DON'T
Consume Indigenous spiritual practices to address your own alienation
Romanticize Indigenous lifeways for settler healing
Appropriate Two-Spirit identities for settler LGBTQ+ politics
Theme 06
Material Commitments — LANDBACK & Divestment
DO
Perform forensic title research on your land deeds
Pay a Voluntary Land Tax to Indigenous honor funds
Divest from extractive and carceral industries
DON'T
Treat land acknowledgments as the endpoint
Mistake verbal support for material restitution
Wait for unanimous consensus before beginning divestment
Theme 07
Mutual Aid — The Logistics of Solidarity
DO
Join existing non-hierarchical mutual aid networks
Provide material support: food, gas cards, bail funds
Understand mutual aid as political, not just charitable
DON'T
Found competing top-down charity programs
Attach branding or donor recognition to mutual aid
Substitute educational events for material support
Theme 08
Security Culture & Discipline in Solidarity Work
DO
Act as an "upstander": document, film, witness
Follow security protocols set by Indigenous organizers
Support "Know Your Rights" education
DON'T
Instigate confrontation or create escalation
Share operational info in unsecured channels
Freelance. Follow the security culture of the community
Theme 09
Weaponize Privilege in Your Own Space
DO
Use institutional credibility to advance Indigenous-led causes
Confront colonialism in your own workplace and congregation
Be willing to "betray your institution" for liberation
DON'T
Center yourself in Indigenous community spaces unnecessarily
Protect professional standing at the cost of meaningful risk
Act unilaterally in Indigenous causes without consent
Theme 10
Sustained Accountability — Long-Term Practice
DO
Create accountability structures; report on commitments
Measure success by whether partner orgs found the relationship useful
Maintain dignity and mutual accountability in both directions
DON'T
Treat accomplice-ship as a completed project
Measure success by your own feelings about the process
Use slow discernment processes to avoid material commitment
Sources: NewCO Framework · Great Plains Action Society · Lakota People's Law Project · Warrior Women Project · Decolonial Journey (Jeff Kisling) · Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative)
NewCO · Indigenous Allyship Guide