Iowa Natives is a nonprofit publication celebrating Iowa's wild spaces and the people who protect them. Through education and advocacy, we empower all Iowans to preserve and protect our natural heritage.

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In her book Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer writes, “Becoming Indigenous to a place means living as if your children's future mattered, to take care of the land as if our lives both material and spiritual, depended on it." Inspired by this vision, we aspire to nurture a relationship with Iowa’s land that honors its past, present, and future.

 

We recognize that "native" has a specific and profound meaning for the Indigenous peoples who have stewarded this land for generations—including, but not limited to, the Meskwaki, Ioway, and Sauk nations. Our use of "Iowa Natives" is not to claim Indigenous identity, but to express our intention to listen, learn, and care for Iowa as home—guided by the stories the land tells through its animals, plants, and places, and by the example of its stewards. 

 

We hope to be a source for sharing Iowa’s stories, so that all who live here can deepen their sense of belonging and responsibility to this place we call home.