Rivers to Re-Indigenization

Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous People’s Native community evaluation toolkit, the Rivers to Re-Indigenization Model, is designed for Native community-based organizations and Native-led projects to self-evaluate, measure ongoing outcomes, and track successes in order to better equip and foster their movement-building.

The Rivers to Re-Indigenization (R2R) Model is an Indigenous evaluation strategy. It begins with water and recognizes we are all a part of a larger water system. It resonates loudly what echoes across Indigenous landscapes — Water is Life, for water is at the core of Native community sustainability, development, and prosperity. The R2R Model is consistent with dominant evaluation models in its design to track economic development by measuring successes and identifying opportunities for growth. Our model considers Native concepts of prosperity beyond mainstream definitions and models, distinguishing Indigenous economic development as one woven with water and upheld by means of ancestral lands, traditional foods, elder wisdoms (leadership), spiritual knowledge systems, and cultural lifeways.