Meet Kim Smith | Indigenous Goddess Gang Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kim Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kim, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I come the great Diné Nation. Our homeland is the size of West Virginia. Ancestorly it spans throughout the 4 corner states of the Southwest. I was raised in St Michaels AZ & Iyanbito, NM. My mother’s family is from AZ & my Dad from NM.

I had a strong upbringing of Diné culture and ceremony, while also attending a Catholic school from K-12. My siblings, my cousins, my mom, aunts and uncles all went to this private Catholic school.

Throughout it all, my grandparents ensured that my sister and I always remembered who we are and where
we come from. They made sure we participated in ceremony, spoke the language and walked the land.

Once I got to university I studied indigenous studies. For the first time in my education I really learned about the plight of indigenous people, about the genocide, colonialism & how through all the adversity, indigenous people are still here & thriving. I realized that I was a product of the federal government’s assimilation agenda.

That empowered me to change my major (from a business major to applied indigenous studies). I dove into all the works of indigenous matriarchs, scholars, leaders, and started seeing my community in a different lens. Relearning and reclaiming a lot of knowledge, prayer & understanding of
Who I am as a Diné woman. Understanding that I am Diné before American.

Ultimately I began my decolonization journey. Since I have tried my hardest to carry on the empowering work
Of those indigenous leaders before me.

To this day there are very fews outlets particularly media outlets that are centered around indigenous philosophies, history and knowledge. These days we have laws that are in place or about to be passed that want to continue to silence indigenous, BIPOC truths and history.

Indigenous Goddess Gang is a space for sharing, reclaiming and nourishing the Matriarchy. Knowledge sharing that is not institutionalized but raw, real and in real time.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I wear many hats, too many most times. I am a citizen scientist studying the impacts of coal fired power plants and coal mining and indigenous water rights. I am a farmer. I am a water conservationists. I am a permaculturist. I am founder and editor at large for the indigenous feminist publication indigenous goddess gang. I am a curator (the art of indigenous resistance) I am a water protector and land defender. I am public servant.

All of my work goes hand and hand, feeds off of each other.

Like everyone else, the pandemic put a lot of work on hold. For a year we really dropped everything we were doing or had planned or saved and put it into our communities during the COVID 19 pandemic. In less then a year we provided food and necessities to positive almost 10,000 Diné households. Through our mutual aid networks we were also able to provide monetary support, fire wood, herbal medicines, teacher support, diapers, anything that came our way we did our best to provide.

Our community was ravaged by Covid 19. At one point we were the Epi center for the virus. It was a lot of heartbreaking work but we are healing and realizing that we need to plan better. That’s the biggest challenge I’ve faced. Day after day, facing death and sickness on the frontlines then going in again, day after day.

I found a lot of inspiration and uplifting in our digital publication, Indigenous Goddess Gang. From seed keeping to food medicine & everywhere in between. Our collective voices have so much medicine and healing in them. That’s what IGG is about. Sharing knowledge by uplifting indigenous voices and indigenous folx really doing the work in their communities.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Oh my gosh, there are so many! First and foremost my matriarchs, my partner Makai, my siblings, my dear nephews & nieces, my sisters and brothers in the struggle, the holy ones before me.

One person that changed my life forever is my beloved mentor Winona Laduke. She shows us (humanity) that there is a way, we just have to do the dirty work. Since the day I met her she has taken me under her wing. Loved me, believed in me, mentored me, yelled at me, humbled me and showed me the way and vice versa. I am forever grateful to & for the Laduke family.

A huge shout out to the indigenous, black, aapi and brown creatives creating. We make the world go round.

I am forever grateful & inspired by the elements and our earth mom.

Website: www.indigenousgoddessgang.com

Instagram: @indigenousgoddessgang

Other: @forourrelatives (Nihi Ké Baa mutual aid) on IG

Image Credits
Marquel Musgrave (Nambe Pueblo) Jaida Grey Eagle (Oglala Lakota) Jordan Craig (Cheyenne) Cara Romero (Chemehuevi) Hannah Manuelito (Diné) Leah Rose Kolakowski (Keweennaw Bay Ojibwa)