Acknowledgment of past mistakes is one thing. Taking active, intentional steps to repair and make amends for past and current harm is a whole other story.

Since 2019, Camp Fire has been on a journey to address and end cultural appropriation within our organization. As 2024 comes to a close, we want to provide an update on the progress we’ve made and the work still to be done.

For over a century, Camp Fire’s mission has been to provide a safe place where kids come together to learn, grow, and build connections with nature. But like many legacy organizations, our past also includes a history of harm—specifically, the cultural appropriation of Native American traditions, symbols, and stories.

This history has caused pain and perpetuated stereotypes that we are committed to addressing and repairing. When we announced that addressing and ending cultural appropriation would be one of our five strategic commitments, we weren’t exactly sure what that would look like. But through our equitable partnership with the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) that officially launched one year ago (in November 2023), we’ve embarked on a journey to not only stop harmful practices, but to center Native and Indigenous leadership in our organization.

A Long History of Harm

Cultural appropriation is more than just "borrowing" from another culture—it’s when a group that holds power takes elements from a minority culture, often for entertainment or profit, without permission from, proper recognition of, or benefit to the oppressed group(s).

For decades, Camp Fire incorporated Native and Indigenous symbols, names, rituals, and language into our programming, and made up things completely that sounded Indigenous. Native and Indigenous communities were often left out of the conversation entirely, and the richness and diversity of their cultures were homogenized into something simplistic and decorative.

Today, we recognize that practices such as these are disrespectful to the centuries of Native peoples and cultures that came before, and also the diverse, vibrant Native American communities present today. We understand how harmful it is for Native youth to see themselves as caricatures within a youth development organization like Camp Fire.

We also acknowledge that this isn’t just a problem of the past—it's still happening today, particularly within the outdoor/camping and scouting industry. We hope that our work in this area will inspire others to work toward systemic changes that benefit all.

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Progress So Far: What We’re Working On

One of the biggest lessons we've learned in our partnership with NIEA is the wisdom in moving beyond transactional relationships to reciprocal and intentional ones. Transformational work happens when both parties come together with holistic care for one another and the understanding that this is not just a give and take, it is mutual growth. Allowing room for organic progress and relationship-building is what creates long-lasting and impact-driven partnerships (see six lessons we’ve learned from our partnership so far).

It’s been important that we do not ask NIEA to carry the burden of teaching us or leading us. Instead, we continue to work alongside them, listening, and supporting their leadership. We invest our time, financial support, and people power to further this partnership and our commitment to addressing and ending cultural appropriation. We also add our non-Native voices to their advocacy efforts, attending their advocacy week events in Washington D.C.

NIEA has had an active presence in Camp Fire’s spaces. NIEA leadership traveled to a Camp Fire CEO Summit to facilitate the NIEA Indigenous Empowerment & Resilience Training, a unique, participatory history lesson that fosters respect, understanding, and reconciliation among Indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. After opening up a dialogue with NIEA, we created a task force to help us create a plan to move forward. We included a diverse group of people, including affiliate representatives, National Headquarters staff, members of Native communities, a Youth Advisory Cabinet member, and content experts.

 

Since then, we’ve made significant progress:

· Conducting an audit of all our materials and practices, looking at everything from camp names to guidebooks, songs, rituals, and more.

· Asking hard questions about where the power and benefit lay in these practices—were they actually honoring Native and Indigenous cultures, or were they perpetuating harmfulstereotypes and ideas?

· As a result of this audit, we began:

-Renaming camps and programs that had appropriative names.

-Updating guidebooks to remove harmful stereotypes.

-Revising awards and recognition items to reflect respect for cultural diversity.

-Ending the practice of creating and wearing ceremonial gowns.

-Removing appropriative totem poles, tipis, signs, and other more permanent structures.

We are also working with local Tribes to ensure that our environmental education programs are culturally appropriate and beneficial to Native communities. We know that these actions were just the start. We have a critical role to play in increasing place-based knowledge about Indigenous history, culture, and traditions that benefits ALL youth, and as a partner, to bring NIEA and Native voices into spaces that have historically been inaccessible. With this in mind, we move forward together thoughtfully in a spirit of reciprocity.

Creating Safe Spaces for Native Youth: The Next Phase of Partnership

The ultimate goal of our collaboration with NIEA is to create spaces in Native communities or increase access for Native youth to safely attend Camp Fire programming. This means:

· Co-creating safe spaces for Native and non-Native youth

· Co-creating place-based teaching and opportunities about and for Native youth

· Supporting Camp Fire to create awareness of unique and complex Native youth identities that should be reflected in our programming.

Moving forward, the Camp Fire/NIEA equitable partnership will focus on three key areas:

1. Supporting the Whole Child through out-of-school time opportunities that prioritize mental, emotional and social health, as well as spiritual and cultural well-being.

2. Expanding Camp Fire's outdoor-based education programs to embrace the history and cultures of specific communities.

3. Creating identity-affirming spaces for Native youth, especially those with two-spirit identities, to thrive.

Supporting the Whole Child

The Whole Child Initiative is a strengths-based educational initiative of NIEA that aims to focus on Native culture, knowledge, and traditions to address the minds and spirits of Native students through emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual supports.

Camp Fire plans to expand this program in Central New Mexico, prioritizing serving Native youth in Albuquerque, Bernalillo, and surrounding areas. Local collaborative partners in the proposed pilot initiative will include BIE-operated and Tribally controlled schools, and other youth service organizations.

Camp Fire Out-of-School Time programs will also include new opportunities to engage Native youth and families by expanding on existing Camp Fire programs. We’re also expanding our Leadership in Training (LIT) program to support rural Alaskan Native communities to build workforce readiness skills by working at summer camp.

Environmental Education

Through environmental education, we seek to understand stewardship of the Earth through a Native lens but doing so without borrowing or appropriating Native practices or traditions. We plan to expand Traditional Ecological Knowledge through joint curriculum and program opportunities, creating a framework for current and future environmental education programming (with focus less on nature-based activities, and more on personal connections and understanding), and co-developing a nature-based toolkit based on this framework.

2Spirit Youth Support

Our second focus area—supporting 2SLGBTQ+ Indigenous youth—addresses the unique challenges faced by Native youth who identify as Two-Spirit or LGBTQ+. These young people often experience a lack of representation and support in both Native and non-Native spaces. By centering their voices and creating programs specifically for them, we aim to foster safe, inclusive environments where they can thrive.

Through this partnership, we plan to create environments where Native and non-Native youth can come together, learn from one another, and grow in ways that honor both their differences and their shared humanity. Other projects include developing a wellness survey or needs assessment for national 2S youth (12-17) and a Native-focused 2SLGBTQ+ policy/advocacy and programming toolkits for youth and educational leaders. Lastly, we envision creating media content that captures stories of 2SLGBTQ+ young people and how they want to be supported, and more.

Looking Toward the Future

This work isn’t easy, and it doesn’t happen overnight. But we know that by centering Native and Indigenous voices, committing to equity, and working in true partnership with Native communities, we can create better spaces for all young people.

You can support our work by volunteering, donating, or advocating for Native youth in your own community. We also encourage other youth-serving organizations to examine their own histories of cultural appropriation and take steps toward creating more inclusive, respectful programs.

We’re excited about the future, and we’re honored to be on this journey with NIEA. Learn more about their organization here: National Indian Education Association and follow on our journey together!