Resources
An ever-expanding collection of presentations, tools, briefs, curriculum, and other resources for Native-centered programming.
Our Thought Leadership
The staff of the Indigenous Justice Circle has partnered up with different experts and organizations to share what we have learned through our work with Native youth.
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Learn more about the intersections of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit (MMIWG2S) Crisis with these interactive maps.
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Read our article reflecting on the 30th anniversary of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). Our article centers Indigenous definitions of sovereignty and development, highlighting today’s crises of mental health and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives. Included in the volume “Revitalizing Population and and Development in the 21st Century.”
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We evaluated Abriendo Oportunidades (AO), an intervention for indigenous adolescent girls that builds knowledge, life skills, and social support, contributing to multiple education, safety, health, and social outcomes. The findings on child marriage and physical violence suggest AO’s positively contributes to girls’ and their households. This is consistent with existing evidence supporting girls’ groups and interventions for indigenous youth. Further engagement with indigenous girls, their households, and communities is needed to identify appropriate packages of interventions. Read the article for free.
More than a research question…
The work we do at Indigenous Justice Circle is backed by research and guided by Native people working with their communities. It is deeply personal and rigorous work. Our commitment to Native Health and Wellbeing is a pillar of our work. Listen to our Executive Director Dr. Kelly Hallman share more about our vision and mission at IJC.
Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2024
The theme of the 2024 festival was Indigenous Voices of the Americas: Celebrating the National Museum of the American Indian, and it showcased the living traditions of Indigenous peoples, including culinary traditions, music, visual arts, sports, and conversations.
IJC Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Kelly Hallman (Cherokee Nation, she/her), and Media & Communications Consultant, Kassel Garibay (she/her), joined the festival from June 29 to July 1st to share information about the transnational Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit (MMIWG2S) crisis, its historical roots, and what can be done to combat it. This was an incredible opportunity, and we are grateful to the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage for their hard work in recording and preserving these talks for the public. Thanks to them, you can listen to the audio recording of our talks right here!
Published Articles
“Strengthening Inclusion, Safety, and Democracy with American Indian Girls and Women to Benefit Indigenous Communities,” by Kelly K Hallman, The Minority Report, Issue 17, Winter 2025.
“Our Bodies, Our Data, Our Destinies: Native American Women Harnessing Technology for the Benefit of Our People”, by Kelly K Hallman, Non-Profit Quarterly, Volume 31, Issue 4, Winter 2024.
2025 Impact Report
As the year draws to a close, we are excited to share the highlights of our work in 2025. The year has been full of opportunities and challenges. We are grateful for your support and solidarity in our journey to empower the rising generation of Indigenous leaders.
Briefs
Brief 8 — “A Framework for Restoring Indigenous Girl Societies.”
Brief 7 — “Supportive Native American Girls During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Brief 6 — “Returning to Matrilineal Traditions, Building a New Generation of Girl Societies.”
Brief 5 — “Reclaiming Matrilineal Traditions & Building Girl Societies.”
Brief 4 - “Girl-Centered Program Design in Indian Country.”
Brief 3 — “Building Indigenous Girl Networks in South Dakota.”
Brief 2 — “Adapting the Girl Roster™ for Lakota Communities.”
Brief 1 — “Indigenous Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment Network (IMAGEN).
Tools
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This toolkit is designed to help programs precisely identify the nature and degree of girls’ “shrinking worlds” at puberty and to aid them in devising strategies for offsetting the adverse effects of these restrictions on girls. By “quantifying” the information from each participatory exercise into a specially designed recording grid for that tool, the information can easily be conveyed to decision-makers and others who were not part of the group exercise. Download here.
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IMAGEN’s Resilience Cards are a resource designed for program leaders who are planning to work with adolescent indigenous girls. The content on each card comes directly from the suggestions of our female relatives, who represent the experiences of girls from several different Native communities across the country. They identified valuable skills, practices, and knowledge that would serve our younger sisters in better navigating the unique obstacles facing indigenous girls in the U.S. The cards are intended to be used in the context of an asset-building exercise, which is an important step in building meaningful program content tailored to the needs of the girls in the community with which you will be working. Download here.
Resources for Intergenerational Girl Societies
In addition to the free resources featured on this page, we have compiled an integrated resource package to support the development, implementation, and maintenance of intergenerational girl societies over an 18-24 month long journey. These resources were developed in collaboration with Native leaders with knowledge on successful practices in their communities. This package includes:
A program implementation guide
The “Do You Know?” Resilience Skills Challenge Game
A personalized mobile phone app to record attendance
A sustainability guide
A complete Girl Society curriculum with over 35 scripted sessions
And much more!
In addition to these exclusive resources, members of our IMAGEN Circle meet in monthly gatherings to share insights and lend support to one another.
Contact us at info@indigenousjc.org to learn how to access these resources.
Webinars
May 2026
On the National Day of Awareness of the Missing & Murdered Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit (MMIWG2S) Crisis, we partnered with the Population Institute to host a panel of IMAGEN Partners sharing their experiences with Native Girl Societies and the IMAGEN Curriculum.
November 2025
Highlights and narratives of impact from participants in Indigenous Justice Circle's IMAGEN Girl Society programs. We shared the preliminary results of a pilot study with us on the effectiveness of Girl Societies.
April 2024
We partnered with the Population Council and Abriendo Oportunidades to host a panel on the sidelines of the 2024 United Nations Forum on Indigenous Issues.
December 2023
In 2023 we launched the new program Indigenous Young Leaders, welcoming a cohort of young activists, artists, and driven Indigenous people serving their communities. We hosted a webinar with three of the young leaders who shared their experience being a part of the inaugural IYL cohort.
December 2022
To celebrate the launch of the brand new Indigenous Justice Circle as an independent organization, we hosted a webinar to share the main focuses of the organization as well as share new tools for IMAGEN Native Girl Societies.
March 2022 – An IMAGEN webinar featuring the work of some of our IMAGEN Circle partners.
Learn more about our partners →
May 2021 — IMAGEN joins others to discuss girls’ mental health challenges and strategies
Download slides here →
March 2021 — Recipients of the IMAGEN COVID-19 micro-grants share their strategies to combat isolation. Download slides here →
October 2020 — The webinar describes IMAGEN’s work to counter the isolation during the pandemic. Download slides here →
September 2020 - IMAGEN partners shared successes, challenges, and future plans.
Download slides here →
September 2018 — Building Girls’ Protective Assets in Indian Country: Intentional Girl-Centered Program Design. Learn more here → Access deck here →
Presentations
“Combatting MMIWG through Native girl-centered programming” by Kelly Hallman, PhD (Cherokee) at Resilience Con on April 13, 2021. Access deck here →
“Adapting to the COVID-19 Pandemic” by Gabriela Lenhoff for Abriendo Oportunidades, a partner working with indigenous girls in Guatemala. Access deck here →
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