The Question Everyone Keeps Asking About Indigenous Progress at the UN

And why the answer pisses people off (but it's the truth)

Look, I get this question constantly: From Indigenous Peoples, from non-Indigenous people, from activists, from skeptics.

They all want to know: "Are Indigenous Peoples actually making progress at the United Nations?"

And to be completely honest with you, I'm getting a little tired of it.

Not because it's a bad question, but because people want a simple yes or no answer to something that's way more complicated than that.

But ok, I'll give you the real answer: Yes. One hundred percent yes. But probably not in the way you think, and definitely not fast enough for your Instagram attention span.

Key Takeaways

• Progress at the UN happens in "subtle but significant steps".” Not viral moments.

• Most people quit after 6 months because they expect Gen-Z level results.

• The seven generations mindset beats the "what have you done for me lately" approach every time

• This work requires serious personal investment, most meetings aren't funded

• Consistency is everything. Lose momentum and you're starting over

• People measure progress wrong because they're playing the wrong game

The Sustainability Problem Everyone Ignores

Here's what I don’t understand about this whole conversation:

People approach Indigenous diplomacy at the UN the same way they approach everything else in their lives, with completely unrealistic expectations and zero understanding of what it actually takes.

I'm just a rookie compared to the folks who have been going to these meetings for 40 years plus, you know? But even in my short time doing this work, I've seen the same pattern over and over again. People show up thinking they're going to change 500 years of colonization in their first year of attending meetings.

To be completely honest with you, I want to ignore most of those conversations because I know they're not willing to make the investment necessary. The investment in money, in time, in attention, and the sacrifice they'll have to make with their privacy and their personal resources.

Progress within the United Nations is a game of making subtle but significant steps. That means you have to come back every year, every meeting, and make incremental progress. That’s subtle, small, minor changes that add up at the end to some major significant changes in policies that will actually help Indigenous Peoples on the ground.

And that requires discipline that most people just don't have.

The Money Talk Nobody Wants to Have

This is honestly the most insane thing for me to have to explain, but I'm going to share it because, someone needs to be real about this.

Most of the 20 years time (actually, pretty much all of the time) I invest my own money to attend these meetings. These meetings are not funded, or they won't fund me at least, and I'm okay with that because I'm here to do the work. I like to do the work.

But let's be real about what that means. We're talking about thousands of dollars in travel, accommodation, food, time away from other income-generating work. For meetings that might result in one sentence being changed in a policy document that 99% of people will never read.

And you know what? That one sentence might be the foundation for something that helps my great-great-great-grandchildren have a better life. That's the game we're playing here, and if you can't handle that math, then this work isn't for you.

"It's not about tomorrow—it's about the day after tomorrow. And the day after that. And seven generations after that."

Why Everyone Quits After Six Months

I train Indigenous Peoples who are going to these forums for the first time, and here's what I tell them every single time: "Keep coming back."

Not because I think they need to hear it once, but because I know that 90% of them won't. They'll go to their first meeting, get frustrated that they didn't immediately dismantle the entire colonial system, and then disappear.

It's all about perseverance and discipline, and you need to be doing that. Otherwise, you will lose momentum, and when you lose momentum, it is very hard to get back in and start from the same level that you left.

I've seen this happen over and over again. Someone new shows up with all this energy and passion, thinks they're going to revolutionize everything, gets discouraged when change happens slowly, and then just... stops coming.

Meanwhile, those who have been showing up for decades keep making those subtle but significant steps. They keep building relationships. They keep pushing for changes in language that most people don't even notice but that create openings for bigger changes down the line.

The "Show Me Results Tomorrow" Mindset

Here's where I think most people get confused about whether we're making progress: They're measuring it wrong.

If you're thinking finite mindset as in "how will it help me tomorrow?" then yeah, you're going to be disappointed. But that's not the game Indigenous Peoples have ever played.

There's a reason why we talk about the next seven generations. That's an infinite mindset. We've always been thinking long-term. We've always been thinking about the day after tomorrow, and the day after that, and seven generations after that.

Of course you want Indigenous Peoples to have better healthcare tomorrow. Of course you want land rights resolved next week. Of course you want that. But you also want to secure that for the next seven generations, and that requires a completely different approach to how you measure progress.

The Reality of Showing Up

That's why I really try to attend every possible meeting that I've been participating in. When it comes to human rights, when it comes to climate change, when it comes to oceans. I try to participate as much as possible because I know that I have this game plan that can only work if you do the work every day, or every meeting that you go into.

Here’s another thing: This work is super exhausting.

You're sitting in rooms where people are debating whether Indigenous Peoples deserve a paragraph of their own in a resolution on violence against women. You're listening to States make excuses for why they can't do basic things to include human rights defenders. You're watching procedural BS slow down urgent issues.

But you keep showing up because that's how the system works. That's how change happens in these international spaces. Not through viral TikToks or emotional speeches that get shared on social media. Through consistency, relationship-building, and incremental progress that most people will never see or understand.

What Progress Actually Looks Like (And Why You Hate It)

So when people ask me if we're making progress, here's what I want them to understand: Progress in these spaces looks like getting Indigenous knowledge systems mentioned in a climate document. It looks like securing a seat at a table where decisions about our knowledge are being made. It looks like changing one word in a policy that creates legal precedent for future cases.

It's not sexy. It's not going to trend on Twitter. But it's the foundation for everything else that comes after.

"I measure things by making subtle but significant steps, because that's how real change happens in systems that were designed to resist change."

And yes, we are making that kind of progress. But depends on what timeframe you use and how you measure it. I use the infinite mindset, and my measurement is…well, I measure things by making subtle but significant steps.

Because that's how real change happens in systems that were designed to resist change.

Before You Go

Look, if you made it this far, you probably get it.

This isn't the kind of diplomacy that makes for good content or satisfying headlines. It's the kind of work that our ancestors would recognize: Patient, persistent, purposeful.

And if you're not willing to invest your own money, sacrifice your personal time, and show up year after year for changes that might not benefit you directly, then maybe find a different way to contribute to Indigenous rights.

Because the people who are doing this work? We're playing the long game. And we're winning. Just not fast enough for your timeline.

See you next week!