Speaker Sikowis Nobiss, Founder/ED of the Great Plains Action Society, talks about how Colonial border policy enforcement, coupled with settler-state immigration laws, are critical factors in eroding Indigenous Peoples's customs, traditions, and national identities through displacement, restriction of movement and ongoing encroachment.

Sikowis Nobiss is Plains Cree/Saulteaux of the George Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada, and grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and is the founder and Executive Director of Great Plains Action Society. She has a Master’s Degree in Religious Studies and Graduate Minor in Native Studies from the University of Iowa. In 2021, she received the Impact Through Advocacy Award from the Iowa Environmental Council. In June 2022, her dedication to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community earned GPAS the OneIowa Community Partnership Award. In March 2023, her work earned Great Plains Action Society recognition for being a women-led organization doing excellent work in the realm of sustainability from the Johnson County United Nations Association Chapter. Sikowis is also a commissioner on the Iowa City Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She also sits on the Midwest Environmental Justice Grant Advisory Committee, the Centering Equity in the Sustainable Building Sector Governance Team, and the Just Transition Power Force as a guest expert working to reduce harmful practices in corporate procurement processes.

Sponsored by the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council, City of Iowa City Human Rights Commission, City of Iowa City Channel 4, and the Iowa City Public Library.