Sovereignty:
Matriarch Fellowship
Supporting Indigenous women with stepping into their own sovereignty — in coming home to themselves — by providing opportunities to gather and nurture one another in community while considering ways they can shed internalized oppressive ideologies and operate more fully as themselves and as leaders.
We value supporting Indigenous women with stepping into their own sovereignty — in coming home to themselves — by providing opportunities to gather and nurture one another in community while considering ways they can shed internalized oppressive ideologies and operate more fully as themselves and as leaders.
What is Matriarch Fellowship?
The Matriarch Fellowship is for Indigenous women, the backbones of our communities. This includes trans sisters, nonbinary relatives, and those socialized as women, whose representation within data is still lacking even more drastically than their cisgender counterparts. As the primary caretakers, breadwinners, and community leaders, Indigenous women play uniquely crucial roles in their communities while navigating some of the most significant challenges. Utilizing the available data regarding Indigenous women, we see a remarkable picture of growth despite the weight of systemic disadvantage.
Through the year-long fellowship, the participants take part in a robust curriculum of thoughtfully curated coaching, empowerment, and professional development experiences. The fellowship will kick off with an in-person retreat full of rest, rejuvenation, and conversation, during which an orientation of what to expect for your fellowship year be described. At the end of your fellowship year, we bring you all together again to reflect on everything you’ve learned from one another, from the program, and from yourselves. You’ll also spend a day with the incoming fellows to see them off on their fellowship year.
“Seven Fires is committed to uplifting Indigenous approaches to economics, while acknowledging and honoring the critical roles of Indigenous women and their leadership.”
Why a Fellowship for Indigenous Women?
Indigenous women play uniquely crucial roles in their communities while navigating some of the most significant challenges. The following statistics are regarding cis-assumed women and do not reflect information specifically about two spirit or trans women, which is an important point of inclusion within our knowledge of genderbased program offerings. Indigenous women make only .57 cents for every dollar paid to a White male. Indigenous women experience a 28.1% poverty rate, unemployment rates of 54.1%, with their top three industries of employment being gas stations, social assistance, and general stores. Although they make up 49.9% of the Indigenous labor force, they make up only 0.9% of executive or senior-level officials.
One in three Indigenous women will experience sexual assault in her life time, with trans women grappling with the added weight of the fact that 50% of trans people are either murdered or commit suicide by age 30. There is an epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and 2 Spirits (MMIW2S) happening, in tandem with women bearing the majority of responsibilities in both earning income and meeting childcare needs during the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite these alarming statistics, Indigenous women are persevering and creating growth:
Since 1997, women-owned businesses grew by 114%, while Indigenous women-owned businesses grew by 201% — nearly double that of their counterparts.
Two thirds of all Indigenous Women in the United States are the primary breadwinners in their families.
Mainstream statistics show that 90% of women reinvest back into their community vs. only 35% of men. Women’s purchases consistently support family and community at higher rates than men’s.
It is critical to increase support and investment to foster the continued growth and development of Indigenous women as community leaders, professionals, and business owners. There is a need for Indigenous women to have space with each other to nurture themselves and their remarkable leadership capacity. Seven Fires is committed to uplifting Indigenous approaches to economics, while acknowledging and honoring the critical roles of Indigenous women and their leadership.
