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- By Erin Tapahe
- Economic Development
Many Native entrepreneurs start their businesses to address a lack of representation in their given industries. Crystal Echo Hawk founded IllumiNative to help combat the widespread dearth of knowledge about Native Americans in mainstream culture.
Via her consulting company, Echo Hawk conducted a survey that found almost 80 percent of Americans had little to no information about Native Americans. The findings didn’t necessarily come as a surprise: Throughout her work, Echo Hawk noted the lack of visibility for Native people and their concerns.
“Nine times out of ten, I was the only Native person in the room and more often than not, Native people weren’t even getting a seat at the table,” Echo Hawk, an enrolled member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, told Tribal Business News. “We’re sort of voiceless, faceless or we’re just a caricature.”
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These experiences pushed Echo Hawk in 2016 to organize Reclaiming Native Truth, a project dedicated to correcting the narrative of Native people and empowering Native Americans to create “cultural, social and policy change.”
Reclaiming Native Truth project was the largest public opinion research and strategy project conducted by and for Native people, with $3.3 million in funding. The project engaged more than 200 stakeholders across Indian Country and published its findings in 2018.
In addition to an overwhelming lack of knowledge about Native Americans, the information Americans claimed to know stemmed from racist sports mascots, harmful Hollywood tropes, a belief that tribes existed only in the historical context, and other harmful stereotypes.
“We really needed to address these dominant narratives and perceptions to find ways to build powerful Native peoples to advance key issues for justice and self-determination,” Echo Hawk said.
To address and bring to light the findings in the Reclaiming Native Truth project, Echo Hawk founded IllumiNative, raising funds for the venture via previous contacts from private foundations, corporations, tribes and individuals. She found a home for IllumiNative as part of New Venture Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that receives donations from foundations, businesses and individuals and then issues grants and provides fiscal sponsorship for projects.
“I never could have imagined three and a half years later, IllumiNative would grow into what it is today,” said Echo Hawk, who serves as president and CEO of the organization. “It’s really an exciting journey. A lot of people have been following the work of Reclaiming Native Truth and were excited to see it be translated into action.”
At the beginning of IllumiNative, it was only Echo Hawk and a part-time contractor. The organization expanded to 12 staff members in 2021 and expects to almost double the personnel by the end of this year.
“It’s been pretty amazing to see just how rapid our growth is and we’ve had so many different funders make investments to allow us to grow our team and our resources based around our campaigns,” Echo Hawk said.
Chris James, president of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, has watched in admiration as Echo Hawk grew IllumiNative over the years. The National Center even awarded Echo Hawk with its 2018 Native Women Business Owner of the Year award.
James commends Echo Hawk for identifying the strengths and successes in the Native American community, adding that she provides top-notch work.
“We need more advocates like her in our Native community,” James told Tribal Business News.
According to Echo Hawk, IllumiNative is working on several projects this year, including the IllumiNative Producers Program. IllumiNative also has partnered with Netflix to accept seven beginning Indigenous producers through a year-long program that will pair them with mentors, offer workshops and network opportunities and comes with a $25,000 stipend. The program aims to increase Native representation in the TV and film industry.
Additionally, IllumiNative is working on the Native Vote ’22 campaign and a survey, which will examine the experiences of Native people in the 21st century and is focused on community, identity and citizenship.
The organization currently is seeking responses for its Indigenous Futures survey, which Echo Hawk describes as the largest-ever survey conducted in Indian Country to address priorities for the future, gauge the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and racism, and other issues affecting Native communities.
“I’m really proud of IllumiNative, our team and our research partners, where we’ve been able to educate and engage non-Native allies,” Echo Hawk said. “I think we are building a very wide and solid base of non-Native allies who are really gaining a lot of understanding about who we are as Native peoples.”
