EP85 Honoring Indigenous Voices with Sutton King, MPH ‘20

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EP85 Honoring Indigenous Voices with Sutton King, MPH ‘20
I AM GPH
I AM GPH EP85 Honoring Indigenous Voices with Sutton King, MPH ‘20

Kassandra:

Welcome to the I AM GPH podcast. My name is Kassandra Jones and I am a public health communicator and alumna of NYU GPH. Today I had the pleasure of speaking with a fellow alum, Sutton King, Executive Director of the urban indigenous collective, Sutton's work focuses on addressing the health disparities within indigenous communities while also pursuing a career in public health entrepreneurship. She has recently developed a culturally tailored mental health application and walked us through the different ways we can maintain an active voice in the community to address some of these disparities.

Sutton shared with us how she is able to juggle multiple projects at once, and we learned that part of her secret to success involves balance and collaboration over competition. So let's get to our interview with Sutton King. Joining us today is fellow alumni Sutton King. Sutton King is Afro indigenous and a member of the Menominee and Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. She is an indigenous health advocate, researcher and social entrepreneur dedicated to developing and scaling innovative solutions to improve indigenous health equity across sectors.

Her focuses center around decolonial approaches and culturally appropriate methodologies within technology, healthcare and business. She supports research to increase the visibility surrounding indigenous health outcomes and access to mental health care for urban natives. Through her roles as President and Executive Director of the urban indigenous collective, a grassroots organization dedicated to the health and wellbeing of urban natives, and is the co founder of ShockTalk a telebehavioral application connecting native users to native therapists.

She is the Chief Impact Officer for Journey Colab, a biotech company decolonizing their approach to drug development. In her role as chief impact officer for Journey Colab, she supports the design and implementation of a stakeholder model and ensures social impact through company accountability. Sutton, thank you so much for joining us today.

Sutton:

Thank you for having me, Kassie.

Kassandra:

So to get us started this evening, I would love if you could give us an overview of how you would describe what you do for a living.

Sutton:

Sure. And first I would just like to say hello and introduce myself and my language []. So there I just said hello in both my languages, both Menominee and Oneida. I am a turtle clan, the United Nations People of the Standing Stone. And again, it's great to be here with you this evening. And thank you for having me.

In terms of how I describe what I do in the world, First and foremost I wear many hats as you shared. I see myself as an indigenous health advocate, social entrepreneur, as well as a researcher. And really, I describe my work as advocating on the behalf of indigenous peoples. Making sure that we are highlighting and centering indigenous voices and ways of being in ways of knowing.

Kassandra:

Being that you graduated only just this past year in 2020. I have closely followed along with all of your endeavors. But can you talk to us a little bit about what some of the latest might be?

Sutton:

Sure, I always joke with people and say it's so ironic to have graduated in the midst of a pandemic with the masks and public health. You can't make those things up. But yeah since graduating we've been focusing on many different projects, but I think that the ones I'd really like to highlight in this conversation through the urban indigenous collective is a research project that has been close to my heart as well as my teammates and colleagues.

So this would be the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman database that we're working on. Which is known as New York City plus. And that's being supported by actually a NYU graduate student, Darby Gallagher, who is actually enrolled in the Miami tribe of Oklahoma. She is the research coordinator and project manager on this as well as Ariel Richer, who is a doctoral student at Columbia Law School of Social Work.

And for those who are not familiar with MMIWG, it's really a mass movement on United States as well as in Canada. What we would call Turtle Island North America. And it really seeks to raise awareness around the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls as well. Through organized marches, community meetings, building of databases, what we're doing in particular. So our database is very unprecedented as there has not yet been an implementation of a database of this sort here on the East Coast or within the tri state area.

So we're very honored to be working with Sovereign Bodies Institute who holds the national and the national MMWIG database. And we're really seeking to look at the scope and violence in which our relatives, women, girls to spirit are experiencing amounts of violence frequently, and this is going unnoticed, unreported. Activists in the space often say, we're not only missing the data, but we're also missing in the media as well, the lack of representation. And so we're really seeking through this database to highlight the crisis in which we see in our communities, internationally.

Kassandra:

Wow. So among some of these research projects, I know that you also encompass an entrepreneurial spirit within yourself. I love the fact that you are a public health entrepreneur. And I would love if you could also share a little bit about what some of those endeavors are looking like.

Sutton:

Sure, yeah social entrepreneurship is something that has been really important to me and something that I've really journeyed into, within the last year of my life, more so. And one of the projects that I'm very proud of working on with the urban indigenous collective team that's being led by Austin Serio, member of the Shakori tribe from South Carolina, and also at NYU Gallatin graduate, it's ShockTalk. So ShockTalk is a telebehavioral app that connects native users to native or indigenous therapist ground in cultural humility.

So the application really seeks to decrease adverse mental health effects, as well as support the healing of both historical and intergenerational trauma. ShockTalk is something that we see really as a way to support the access to mental health services, more specifically, culturally appropriate mental health services. We really see a lack of these types of services in our communities. And I think it's really important to understand that Native Americans have a legal right to health care.

And this has been demonstrated through numerous treaties. And it's really the sacred bargain that we made with the United States government. Well, we exchange our land and resources, to the right to health care. And that's simply just not being honored when we look at the chronic underfunding of IHS, the health outcomes, which we will talk more in depth about. But we really wanted to show up in a way where we could support our community and leverage innovative technology that seems to be missing in indigenous communities.

Kassandra:

Well, I absolutely love the prototype here that you guys have put together. I think, especially during this time, we're seeing multiple crises occurring at once and different health disparities affecting vulnerable populations. So the fact that you have tackled, I'm sure all these different crises once but looked for an opportunity to bridge the gap between the spaces that you saw needed more assistance with entrepreneurial spirit and have created something utilizing the resources from NYU as well. So very excited to see this come to fruition, get launched and get the support and backing that you guys deserve. Speaking of resources, if you had an unlimited amount of financial resources to support some of these projects, how would you spend it and why if you can expand upon that, please?

Sutton:

Sure. I think one would be to support my staff. In terms of labor, I mean, I work with a amazing team. Who is dedicated, passionate when it comes to Native American and Alaska Native health rights equity, and they have volunteered over 12,000 hours in the last year dedicated to a multitude of projects. So, I think one, it's important to be able to pay those who are really pushing these initiatives forward really leading these projects.

Two I would support the funding of innovative technology like ShockTalk. ShockTalk is for profit it is separate, in terms of the governance structures, when we're looking at the urban indigenous collective. However, what we've done with ShockTalk is actually create a steward ownership model around the telebehavioral application. We'll actually be allocating a portion of the equity back to the urban indigenous collective to create sustainability.

Now, we've seen a lot of issues in terms of scaling nonprofits, and just the barriers that exist in funding when it comes to Native American specific projects philanthropy and giving, we look at the buckets there. And so we see the development of this type of technology, being able to really aid and provide mutual aid to our communities to support a culturally appropriate Health Care Center, something that we don't see in New York City with over a population of 100,000.

So, really funding these projects so that we can create sustainability and our services on the ground, and the innovative solutions needed to really bridge the gap of the health inequalities that we see within indigenous peoples.

Kassandra:

Thank you so much for that answer. And walking us through exactly how you would utilize some of those resources. I'm sure in many ways, you are already taking what you do have and utilizing it to your best ability. So I'd like to kind of expand upon some of the inequities that you mentioned within the health care setting by talking about some specific areas within public health that you're most curious about addressing and why. So talk to me about some of those health disparities for urban natives and indigenous populations.

Sutton:

Yeah, and I think I kind of touched on this, but mental health. We have a tremendous amount of mental health disparities within our communities. And that is compounded by the lack of access to the appropriate care and as well as quality of care. And that's really why we're on the ground advocating in the way that we do when you see some of the statistics on the screen to my right here. But a statistic I always share with folks to really put this into perspective is that our Native American youth have PTSD rates 22%, the same rate as our veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq.

And that is heartbreaking. And again, when we think about Indian Health Service, and the lack of resources they are given, only being funded at 52% of its capacity, and the inequities that stream from that. It's unfortunate, and it's something that we really hope that in this administration, will be highlighted. And we really hope to see the fully funded IHS healthcare system. We hope to see urban Indian health programs not only just being funded to limited capacity, in terms of only serving outreach and referral but being able to be full ambulatory care clinics within our urban settings.

I would also say data, there is an extreme need for accurate data, and indigenous led researchers who are collecting this data. We see just a wealth of a gap when it comes to urban indigenous data, you could pop on over to the Department of Health right now and look at the COVID morbidities and mortalities. And you will see that there is no disaggregated data when it comes to Native American or indigenous peoples. Now, that is problematic and can be seen as data terrorism. How are we supposed to properly advocate for ourselves and the funding needed to really bring the resources to heal a community who's literally always being weaponized against.

Kassandra:

And you mentioned earlier and as we saw in the video, actually, if anybody had tuned in and seen some of the work on your... it's focused and projected on Instagram channels and Facebook and YouTube, but connecting the dots between land rights with the health care system as well. So if you could expand upon how those are connected and what indigenous populations are owed, at the very least, right? Especially within the New York tri state area, since that's your primary focus for now. But I would love if you could expand upon that.

Sutton:

Well, yeah I think land rights are interconnected with public health, they're very interwoven. When we think about access to clean water, and when we think about access to land, and what that means. My family, you'll see right there on the right hand side, Chief Oshkosh and sitting on his lap, my grandfather, so I am the granddaughter of the last chiefs of the Menominee tribe. And chief Oshkosh was widely known and respected for being able to negotiate and barter with United States government so that we could stay on our ancestral lands, where many indigenous tribes and nations have been displaced, the Menominee people are very, very lucky and fortunate to be where our creation story started.

And I see the importance of having the connection to land in respect to health outcomes, knowing where you come from. The implications of knowing your culture. And we know that research has shown us and research has demonstrated that a lack of cultural connectedness, a lack of knowing where you come from, directly impacts your mental health.

And so I think that there's a deeper connection there, that I think Western society starting to understand. And I think also, I'd like to just throw out there using also a map of New York, and I've mentioned that I'm a Menominee, but also Oneida. So I come from the Iroquois Confederacy, we call ourselves Haudenosaunee. And so what you're seeing right there is, six tribes that banded together to fight westward expansion, who were inter tribal warfare was so common, but in light of the destruction that was happening with settler colonialism, we decided to put down our weapons come together and create this treaty of peace.

And really think about the seventh generation that this principle of how can we create sustainability for our future generation. So largely when I do what I do in terms of my activism, I do it as a obligation to my ancestors who fought for me to be able to use my voice today. And so I'd like to share that with the NYU audience and New York City, largely to really think about the land that you occupy.

Kassandra:

Definitely something to always keep in mind and take a further interest into do the research to look into what land Are you actually living and occupying currently.

Sutton:

And know the history there. And I think it's really important when we think about our democracy and we just have this really crazy presidential election and such a wide turnout, in terms of voters showing up and indigenous peoples being present in that. But our democracy comes from the Iroquois Confederacy. And I would really encourage people to learn about the oldest democracy on earth that comes from indigenous peoples and how we have helped shaped the America that we live in today.

Kassandra:

Thank you for all the points that you've brought up on explaining and deconstructing a little bit about some of the issues that are occurring within the healthcare setting, within public house. Some of the main focus points on what your current work is, and so I'd like to just continue to bring it back to you a little bit here by asking you in a time that is challenging for everyone. What would you consider to be the biggest challenge you are facing right now in your career? And how are you planning to overcome it?

Sutton:

Sure. I think that one of the challenges that I do face is there is so much work and sometimes I feel like there may not be enough people. I've spoken to the wealth of disparities that exist for indigenous peoples and indigenous communities. And so there are a lot of projects that I'm a part of, to support the healing of indigenous peoples. And so right now I'm really trying to focus on creating boundaries for myself so that I'm not burnt out so that I can show up for community. So that I can also show up for myself as well. So I think that would be probably one of the biggest challenges that I'm facing is really trying to create those boundaries.

Kassandra:

So in speaking about boundaries and speaking about challenges, the amount that you have accomplished within such a short amount of time, is extremely impressive. And I can only imagine how difficult it must be to juggle everything at once. But as you're making progress, as you're gaining momentum, gaining visibility for your nonprofit and your other endeavors.

I have to imagine that at some point, there might be failure. And I don't know why there's this negative connotation around that word as being a bad thing, when there's this knee jerk reaction to Oh, I failed. And especially being a public health entrepreneur, leading your own nonprofit. I'm sure a lot of people out there who are also listening in have been following your work and rooting for you.

So one thing I personally had noticed was a recent outcome with the David prize. And it didn't end up in the outcome that we all hope for. Right. So I would love if you could talk to me about your perception of failure, and what you learned from that experience where it did it and in the outcome you had hoped for.

Sutton:

Absolutely. And I think just because the opportunity doesn't work out in the way that you had imagined it to work out doesn't necessarily equate to failure. And I say that because sometimes reasons opportunities don't play out in the way that we want them to, as much bigger than us. And I say that because of course when you've got your heart set on something, and you want it to work out in the way that you've set your intentions for it to be, it's devastating right it can be very disappointing.

And you got to sit with those emotions and you got to sit with those, those feelings of rejection, they not good feelings, but of course, we are human. But then you've got to step back and take a look at what other opportunities that one opportunity provided to you. And so I think it was very humbling to be nominated for the David prize.

It was something that I was not originally actually going to apply for until I was encouraged by an NYU professor, Dr. Moselle shout out to her. And so it was very surprising to me one, just making it to the first round. I think that a lot of us struggle with imposter syndrome. And so I looked at this description, the David prize, and I thought visionary. In my culture, we're taught to be humble, we are taught to practice humility.

And so to really view myself as a visionary at that time, while I still was in my last year of grad school, not so much. But I continued to make it to these next rounds, I started to realize oh wow people do see this work as visionary. And that makes me very proud. But I got to this place of 22 out of 6500, the top finalist, I was able to not only connect with these true innovative leaders in the New York City community who are doing amazing things, I was also really lifted up by the David prize team.

And so there were so many opportunities in terms of press that we were able to get in amNewYork, The New York Times, all very humbling experiences, but very central to the urban indigenous collectives mission of increasing the visibility of urban natives. That's all we want. We want people to know that we're here. And we want people to pay attention to the issues that are happening on the ground.

And the David prize truly afforded me that opportunity to raise my voice to another level to really also highlight the amazing team members that I have that are supporting this. I really see myself as an assister when it comes to the Urban Indigenous collective, to also lift their voices up because they bring a tremendous wealth of experience, expertise and just passion to our projects.

And so it was again, not the outcome that I had hoped for. $200,000 no strings attached, oh, boy, what we would do with that money. But again, other opportunities have come in other partners who want to fund other projects, donations, talents, people who want to support the mission in any type of way. I mean, sometimes we don't understand why things are happening in that moment. But in my culture, I have always been taught to be patient, and that Creator and ancestors will show you, why that opportunity didn't work out in that way.

And so, I'm sure in time, I'll be able to go back and say, aha that didn't happen so these things could fall together. And I'm grateful that it did. But again, grateful for the experience, the David prize team, the winners of Who we're able to use those resources for their amazing projects on the ground. And I would encourage folks to try to step outside of that imposter syndrome, not listen to that voice. And remember, the confidence within themself.

Kassandra:

You are living proof of why it is better to try and fail than to never try at all, because all of these amazing things came out of that experience and that opportunity. And I'm really glad that you had someone as a mentor, or as a external voice to tell you and push you to make the leap. And when you're talking about imposter syndrome, I think a lot of us constantly, second guess ourselves, or are afraid and let fear hold us back. And dealing with imposter syndrome is hard. So tell me about something that makes you feel inspired to get up each morning and continue to work hard, despite the imposter syndrome despite being afraid.

Sutton:

Yeah, absolutely. At a very young age, I gravitated towards the jingle dress. And this is a dress that is worn during Powwow ceremony. And it's really symbolic in the way that we dance for healing for those who are sick. And so at a very young age, I started dancing jingle dress and gravitated towards this regalia. And at that age, maybe not truly understanding why.

But as I got older, I started to understand what that meant, and had always felt this purpose in this obligation and accountability to my community, to help heal my people in any way that I can. And so that purpose has been burning within me for a very long time. And so every morning, it's a commitment that I make to my community. Despite how I'm feeling, despite what's happened in the day, I'm still going to show up and use my voice to really bring again attention to what's happening on the ground, and the desperate need of resources we are in need of.

And so, again, there is that imposter syndrome that we all feel right. And I have just learned to really counter those non logical thoughts with grounding thoughts. And also why not? That's what I tell myself, why not? Why not go starting nonprofit? Why not go start a start up psychedelic decolonized approach to the pharmaceutical industry?

Why not create culturally tailored telebehavioral app for your people. And yeah you might fail, but the people that you meet along the way, the stories you'll be able to share and experiences are priceless. So I think that for me, it's a little different in terms of what makes me inspired, keeps me inspired. It's not really a person or thing. It's a purpose, that I remind myself that I have a duty to fulfill.

Kassandra:

Well, you definitely make me feel inspired every day. I'm honored for our friendship along with being colleagues within the public health space. It's forced me to take another look at some of the ambitions that I have within my own career. And this for you, it sounds like it's a lifetime mission and commitment.

I'm sure you would be, disappointed if along the way, doing this amount of work on a daily basis and grinding, day after day, week after week, you burned out. I've personally learned a little bit more about ways of setting both personal and professional boundaries. It's something I'm still struggling with, if I'm being completely honest.

Sutton:

It's definitely not linear.

Kassandra:

Right. So I would love if you could talk to me a little bit about, as you've mentioned before, within this discussion, specific boundaries that you're setting, or how do you actually juggle personal time with professional work?

Sutton:

Sure. Yeah I often tell people, I feel like I'm walking into worlds, I feel like I have a moccasin on one foot and on the other and it's really hard to stay balanced. You still got to walk straight, right? But as I shared ceremony has been so important to me, since a very young age, being connected to my culture, my mother has been instrumental in ensuring that I have this deep connection to my people, to my land, to my traditions.

And it is that in which I've been able to stay grounded, in a time where I'm taking on so many different projects. COVID is severely impacting my community and many communities across the nation. I go back to ceremony. That is what keeps me really in tune with self. And I think it's important to make sure that whatever ways of being or knowing that keep you grounded, that keep you centered, must be prioritized.

And so whether that's doing ceremony with my colleagues or team teammates, whether that's checking in on a heart, head gut level, to see where people are at, whether that's just simply creating a organizational environment in which people feel safe to bring their whole selves, to work. That is really the ways in which I've been able to kind of create this balance.

And there's always tipping scales, some weeks are harder than others, some days are more challenging than others. But again, for me it's being able to go back to ceremony, and making sure that the spaces that I'm active in, whether that's my friendships, my family, my work life, that they're all very safe containers.

Kassandra:

So you mentioned heart, head, gut check in that's right? Would you be willing to walk us through that? How does that work? What do you do?

Sutton:

I've got to give props to Daniel Clawson, my team member at Journey Colab, who ensures that we do this every week with one another. It's really checking in where you're at, in your head, right mentally, how you're feeling. And that could be work. It could be personal life, just where you're at. And then moving down to your heart, how does that feeling in your heart, what are the emotions you may be feeling from that. And it's important, I think, to communicate that with your team, so that there is a space of vulnerability, so that we can create bridges and meet people wherever they're at in that work week, or work day.

And then it's going down to your gut your intuition intuitively, where you're at, where you're tapping in, and how all of that, centers for you. And so naturally, what you're going to be able to do after going through this head, heart, gut, you'll be able to just check in with your gut right away. You won't even have to think about the other steps. And that's really where you want to get to a place that you're intuitively connected, and really know yourself in the space around you.

Kassandra:

I'm definitely going to take that piece of advice and try to do the head, heart, gut check in maybe on a daily basis and create and build that into a practice of my own. Hopefully, maybe it'll get picked up by my different communities and different colleagues and places of work. And we can do those check ins, I think it would make a huge difference, especially given the virtual space and lacking this connection. So thank you for that.

Sutton:

Absolutely, even when we're trying to build relationships over zoom, and in this virtual space, it can be kind of difficult, and especially with all of the different things that are going on in our communities today, and the impact and implications of COVID we really want to make sure that we're showing up for people and allowing people to bring their whole selves.

Kassandra:

So speaking about communities, and since we here have this NYU global public health community, I would love to talk a little bit about the concept behind collaboration over competition you and I didn't know each other when we first started off at the GPH master's program, and eventually connected somehow at this point, it's one of those moments where you just you never realize, and can't pinpoint the moment where it turned into a friendship or when we met.

And not only do we have that friendship, but we have taken our friendship and created a working relationship alongside that where I might be in public health, communications, videography work, but you're also doing, as we've heard today, so much incredible work within the public health, entrepreneurial space.

So how can we help one another? How can we collaborate, and I would love if you could talk to me about advice for those wanting to pursue a career path similar to yours, or just, in general, in the public health space, tell us maybe one piece of advice, sound advice that you can give everybody out there?

Sutton:

Sure, something that my mother has always taught me that networking is the key to success. And I never realized until I moved away to New York City at 18, that it really is true. And so it's not always... I always advocate for people to find mentors, find those experts who already have accomplished things that you are setting out to accomplish, because listen, they know the way route.

And they can share so much knowledge with you, so that you don't maybe have to hit the same road bumps that they may have in their early career. But Furthermore, it's not just networking up, it's also networking laterally. So like you said, Kassie us being in the same cohort, us being at NYU. We have created this beautiful network of friendships that has so many powerful women doing beautiful things and community inspiring us in many different ways.

And you never know, who's going to end up where and you never know how that position they're in may be able to support the project you're working in. And so I think it's really important to think about just building your community around what you're passionate about. And I think it really... there was a such social justice aspect to our friendship group that we've curated, which is so beautiful.

But then I think about my team at UIC, who are also my friends. And it was our passion, it is our passion for the health of natives that brought us together. And I think it's so important to not only make sure that you're aligned with our corporate mentors to support you in your career, but the community that's going to be there for you. And again, you are going to grow together and you just have no idea where folks will end up in their paths.

Kassandra:

That's one of the most beautiful aspects for me, with the public health master's program was coming from such a cutthroat, competitive space within the undergraduate institutions to all of a sudden everyone's on the same page. And for yourself, you might be a public health entrepreneur, I might go into communications, we have friends that are epidemiologists, we can leverage our peers, our friendships, our NYU community.

And it was like a light bulb switch had or light switch had turned on and a light bulb had turned on to this new, collaborative and integrative space. And I think our careers are going to, as you mentioned, I love the networking laterally, not just vertically, because I truly believe for example, with yourself that we might see you, as one of the next top foundation leaders or world leaders, as well as some of our friends and colleagues out there. Probably listening in today. I can see that happening for sure. So working together, staying in touch, utilizing our professors, our faculty-

Sutton:

Asking for help in the community in which you build. And I know that a lot of people are like, how do I get a mentor? I don't know. Ask seasoned professionals who have the capacity, are happy to support those who are passionate and motivated to do the work. Let me tell you.

Kassandra:

The worst they can say is no and I've honestly never come across someone who's flat out said no, they either will be get you to the next person or they'll offer a short coffee, informational interview, answer some questions via email. It's always at least something. And speaking of faculty, we actually had some submitted questions before today's discussion and one of our faculty members asked a question that kind of leads into how can we take action based off of this discussion based off of your work?

So what are the most immediate actions we can take now to provide improved justice for indigenous people? So let's hear a little bit about all the different ways people can get involved with either connecting with you or helping your work and your endeavors.

Sutton:

So one of the immediate things I would say in generally, just general to bolster indigenous peoples to support them is to look at how you can structure your governance to make sure there is indigenous representation within it. Make sure you're looking at your organization and identifying the gaps when it comes to black, brown voices, and the space.

Often times, indigenous peoples are not included in stakeholder models. We're not included on and being board of directors were not included in the different ways that businesses are structured, non profit or for profit. And again, this contributes to our invisibility. And if we're really seeking to support indigenous peoples, we need to make sure that indigenous peoples are a part of the conversation. So again, ensuring that they're a part of your governance structure.

They hold C suite titles in your organization. They're not just contracted as consultants, that it is a commitment you are making to make sure that there is sustainability in the conversation as it relates to indigenous peoples. Now, in terms of the urban indigenous collective, what you can support us, donations are always appreciated.

We applied to many different grants and funding. But it's definitely, as I discussed earlier, there are barriers to scaling and nonprofit. So donations, if you're able are always helpful. Two, you can sign up to our newsletter, we have the website, the urban indigenous collective, where you can learn more about all the different projects that we're working on the different talent that's supporting it-

Kassandra:

Actually scrolling down just below as long as you're mentioning that.

Sutton:

Yes, check it out, down at the bottom there. You can also add us on social media platforms at Urban indigenous collective, we're on all social media platforms, Twitter, Instagram, you name it, we've got it. And then if you're interested in supporting any of these projects, whether you're native or not, we do love to have allies supporting us.

And it's necessary for us to be able to achieve the heights we intend to in terms of indigenous representation and the resources needed to really thrive within New York city, send us a message, let us know, we're always looking for support, and we welcome you to come be a part of our community.

Kassandra:

Thank you. Those are really great resources. I personally follow you on some of those platforms, but I'm always looking for new ways and and curious about new projects that Urban Indigenous Collective or ShockTalk might be having. So thank you for sharing those with us. Everyone that joined us today, we really appreciate you tuning in. Sutton, thank you so much for your time and having this discussion. Is there anything you want to leave us with any last thoughts?

Sutton:

I'll just say in my language [] which is a big thank you, and thank you in both Menominee and Oneida. And again, I appreciate you Cassie for taking your time to uplift indigenous voices, not only on the NYU platform, but in your own personal life and in your own career in the way that you support the content that we create education materials that, we're putting out for COVID in a culturally appropriate way.

When we talk about collaboration over competition, our friendship definitely represents that and I'm so appreciative to you and NYU and all the folks out there that have tuned in if there's any other questions, please feel free to reach out to us. We are always happy to engage in dialogue.

Kassandra:

Thank you so much Sutton.