Indigenous Connections Roundtable Announcement

On Wednesday, April 20, 2022,  at 3 pm - 4pm EST, the USFWS welcomes any Department of the Interior staff and partners, and anyone else who may be involved with tribes or who wish to learn more about working with tribes to come see this roundtable. Join here: National Conservation Training Center on Livestream (Note: Please join 5-10 minutes early to make sure your connection is working properly) 

In this session we’ll hear from Sicangu Lakota artist, Frank Waln, on how nature has shaped his music career. He will also reflect on how participating in the Native Youth Climate Adaptation Leadership Congress (NYCALC) has impacted his life. NYCALC is an annual Native youth leadership development gathering at the National Conservation Training Center.

Frank Waln is an award-winning Sicangu Lakota Hip Hop artist and music producer from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. A recipient of the Gates Millennium Scholarship, Waln attended Columbia College Chicago where he received a BA in Audio Arts and Acoustics. Waln’s awards include three Native American Music Awards: the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development 2014 Native American 40 Under 40, the 2014 Chicago Mayor’s Award for Civic Engagement, and the 2016 3Arts Grant for Chicago Artists. He has been featured in Buzzfeed, The Fader, Playboy, Vibe, NPR, ESPN, and MTV’s Rebel Music Native America. Waln has written for various publications including Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education, and Society and The Guardian. Frank Waln travels the world telling his story through performance and doing workshops focusing on self-empowerment and expression of truth.

For Closed Captioning or technical questions: Jennifer Hill (240) 772.0393 or jennifer_hill@fws.gov.

If you want more information, check out this Indigenous Connection Roundtable.pdf