On December 1st, 2022, The Humanities Truck went to “Tipi on the Mall for Native American Heritage Month,” an event that was held by the Native Youth Alliance. The Native Youth Alliance is an intertribal, indigenous youth organization that was originally established in 1990. The “Tipi on the Mall” is a thirty-day prayer vigil on the Washington Monument grounds, and the event originally happened every November from 1999 to 2002. With the 20-year anniversary of the last time the event was held, the Native Youth Alliance decided to revitalize this event. It is also planned to take place over a four-year period, with the “Tipi on the Mall” event taking place over the month of November for the next three years as well.
The Native Youth Alliance was originally founded with the goal of establishing homes for native youth whose parents were incarcerated. The organization focuses greatly on environmental issues, but they also work on indigenous rights issues, cultural and language preservation, and youth programming and education.
At this event, we interviewed Alethea Phillips, a leader within the organization whose parents founded Native Youth Alliance in 1990.
