Insights for Amplifying Native Voices

A Native Visibility Project

This study explores areas where Native peoples have gained media visibility and where they are ignored or misrepresented.

September 2026

2 Min Read

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Cara Romero's photo, TV Indians, that shows four Pueblo adults and a baby on a prairie before a wall of dated TVs with well-known, pop culture images of Native Americans

Table of Contents

Overview

Ideas In Practice

Publisher(s)
The Wallace Foundation

Page Count 2 pages

DOI Link
https://doi.org/10.59656/A-AO9051.001

Summary

How we did this

In collaboration with various partners, IllumiNative conducted five research studies exploring how public opinions of Native peoples are shaped. The studies included public opinion focus groups, a nationally representative survey, social media analysis, interviews with law clerks, judges, and legal experts.

IllumiNative, an organization focused on building power for Native peoples, undertook a range of projects between 2018 and 2025 to amplify contemporary Native voices and stories, and to advance justice, equity, and self-determination. Following that work, The Native Visibility and Power-Building Project was launched to identify where, over five years later, Native Peoples gained visibility and how to inform narrative and cultural organization strategies.

Through this work, research found that Native invisibility persists, with the majority of participants stating that is unacceptable. They also observed that education, social media, and storytelling may help change misconceptions about Native peoples.

The study makes the case that narrative change is urgently needed to shift non-Native understandings of Native peoples and strengthen tribal sovereignty. A key way to do that includes Native-driven cultural content and media, strategic storytelling, and authentic representation. Funders and allies can also play a vital role in educating themselves to better advocate for representation of Native peoples.

This brief is based on The Native Visibility + Power-Building (NVP) Project: Insights and Action guide by IllumiNative.

Narrative change is urgently needed to shift non-Native understandings of Native peoples…Funders can seek out and support Native authors, filmmakers, artists, and influencers and can use their own platforms to center Native voices in conversations about policy, media, representation, and justice.