Columnist Nancy Kelsey recently attended the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in New York City, along with more than a thousand Indigenous Peoples from around the globe.Nancy Kelsey

CLEVELAND, Ohio — With the constant barrage of assaults on Indigenous rights in the U.S. and across the world, sometimes it’s easy to miss the Indigenous joy in the fog of blatant disenfranchisement.

Often, though not always, there is a palpable anxiety that prevents me from feeling entirely comfortable when I am the only person of color in any space. Some BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) readers might know this feeling, and some white readers might be really surprised to hear that. Growing up, I was basically exposed to two types of adult role models of color: those who (consciously or unconsciously) put whiteness on a pedestal and those who vehemently rejected the notion of white supremacy. So even now, as an adult, there are times I must confront the internalized feelings that have ensued about my own brownness and place in the world. I have to constantly resist the urge to conform or make myself more palatable, as a person of color.