Vision: An Indigenous-Led, Matriarchal, Regenerative Community Hub

On October 16, 2025, Great Plains Action Society (GPAS) purchased and liberated 1.05 acres in Iowa City — seven adjoining properties in a historically commercial district now designated by the City for community-driven development. This is not just land acquisition. It is Land Back. It is ReMatriation. It is Indigenous Futurism made real.

Our vision is to build a sustainable micro-community rooted in Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and matriarchal governance, rejecting colonial capitalism in favor of an economy built on compassion and collective liberation.

This hub is a living laboratory for justice — where environmental restoration meets economic reimagining, where healing justice centers BIPOC and 2SLGBTQ+ communities, and where first food farming becomes an act of cultural resurgence. We are not here to fix the system — we are here to replace it.

Location & Alignment with City Vision

Located within the Iowa City Riverfront Crossings Master Plan, our site sits adjacent to downtown, the Iowa River, major employers, public transit, and regional trails — perfectly positioned to catalyze equitable, resilient development. The city is thrilled that we are building our hub in this part of Iowa City, and we are building a great partnership with them.

Our project aligns with the City's goals:

• Mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented design

• Green infrastructure & resilient riverfront parks

• Sustainable building practices

• Adaptive reuse of existing structures

• Promotion of artistic, creative, and community-centered uses

Hub Components: An Ecosystem of Resistance & Renewal

1. Hub Center (810 Maiden Lane)

This is where culture, education, and resistance converge.

A repurposed industrial steel building — once home to rental equipment, glass manufacturing, and scooters — now becomes the heart of the community:

• Multi-purpose gathering space

• Industrial teaching kitchen for First Foods programming

• Art studio + gallery space

• Offices + storage

• Educational & training classrooms

• Partnerships with displaced Indigenous communities

• Mutual aid network coordination

• Community organizing center

2. Green Parking Lot + Living Roof (804 Maiden Lane)

Even a parking lot can be innovative.

Required by zoning, this lot will become a model of ecological innovation:

• Demolish dilapidated mechanic shop

• Install permeable, green parking with solar-ready canopy

• Propose living roof (with MIG's Native Nation Building Studio)

• Remove invasive species, restore native species around and in lot

3. Urban Farm & ReMatriated Landscapes (815 Gilbert Court)

Land can be healed and heal us in return.

A brownfield transformed into a regenerative cultural landscape:

• Grow Ioway First Foods + medicines (in partnership with Ioway Tribe)

• Create edible prairies, living walls, pollinator habitats

• Job training in land stewardship, first food farming, cooking, education

• All food and medicine are for our mutual aid programs

4. Administrative Offices (416 E Benton St)

Behind every movement is infrastructure.

A renovated residential home serving as GPAS's operational backbone:

• Central hub for day-to-day coordination

• Point of contact for partners, volunteers, and fundraising

• HR, finance, records management

5. Healing Justice House (418 E Benton St)

Healing is not a luxury — it's a prerequisite for justice.

A residential space becoming a sanctuary for BIPOC healing:

• Hosted by our BIPOC/2SLGBTQ Healing Collective (therapists and culture bearers)

• Centered on holistic, community-based wellness

• Challenges Western medical paradigms rooted in individualism and profit

• Fosters collective liberation, resilience, and policy change

6. Entrepreneur Launch Pads + Mutual Aid Café/Art Gallery (824 Maiden Lane / 410 E Benton St)

Building a compassionate economy.

A historic coal distribution site reborn as an incubator for radical entrepreneurship:

• Five rent-free launch pads for BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+ entrepreneurs

• A beautiful frontwalks for markets and events and gathering

• Mutual aid café offerings:

  • Pay-what-you-can pricing

  • Community fund for local justice organizations

  • An art gallery

  • Volunteer-for-coffee program

  • Educational workshops on activism, organizing, mutual aid

  • Inclusive, affirming space for all

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Why Iowa? Why Now?

Iowa is the most biologically colonized state in the US:

• #1 contributor to the Gulf Dead Zone

• 2nd highest cancer rate nationally

• Rivers poisoned by industrial agribusiness

According to the USDA, "Of all privately held U.S. agricultural land, Whites account for 96% of owners, 97% of value, and 98% of acres." Our hub is a direct response — a reclamation of Indigenous land, knowledge, and power. We're proving that Indigenous land stewardship can heal ecosystems, rebuild economies, and restore power to the people.

ReMatriation: Beyond Conservation

ReMatriation is more than land back. ReMatriation = Reviving Indigenous worldviews + Matriarchal leadership + Land sovereignty. It's about:

• Replacing extractive systems with regenerative ones

• Centering women, Two-Spirit, and gender-diverse leadership

• Building economies based on compassion, not consumption

• Returning land to Indigenous hands — not as charity, but as justice

We are at the precipice of collapse — and colonial capitalism is the engine. Our hub is the counter-engine: powered by community, guided by traditional ecological knowledge, and fueled by love.

Team & Expertise

GPAS is managed by Indigenous, non-binary, Queer, gay, cis, straight, and Two-Spirit folks with abundant knowledge in:

• Land defense (including DAPL resistance) & Indigenous representation

• First Foods farming, prairie restoration, tree planting

• Community organizing across reservations and urban centers

• Zoning, permitting, construction, and project management

Staff & Board:

• 88% Indigenous staff

• 100% Indigenous board

• Advanced degrees or pursuing post-secondary education

Key Partners:

• The City of Iowa City Climate Action Team – donating the consulting services of Empowered Solutions Collective, a Black women-led company, to help us with sustainability planning, project development, funding, and implementation.

• MIG's Native Nation Building Studio – providing pro bono services to redesign our spaces and landscapes, bringing Indigenous professionals to the table

• Dancing Rabbit Eco-Village – volunteer labor for renovations

• The Possibility Alliance & Catholic Workers – volunteer labor for renovations

• Honor Native Land Fund – financially supports the land ReMatriation and land reunion efforts of Indigenous-led projects.

• Homes for My Peeps – Black-run non-profit nature-based home building with a focus on empowering BIPOC men with skill building

Finances & Progress

We've raised the down payment and the beginning of our renovation funds through years of grassroots organizing — but we still need $1,790,732 to fully realize this vision.

What we've already done:

• Completed Phase 1 Environmental Assessment ($20k+)

• Secured rezoning approval after 3 City Council meetings

• Received pro bono design, engineering, and construction support

• Begun renovation of Healing Justice House

• Completed healing garden space and planted for the year

• Created agreements with Ioway folks on seed use and blessing

• Completed renovation of coal building to create art gallery

• Updated work area and kitchen in main hub building

• Repurposed houses into guest houses for volunteers until we renovate them

• Recently become a member of the People's Solar Energy Fund for renewable retrofitting

Conclusion: A Blueprint for Liberation

This hub is more than bricks and mortar. It is a manifesto in action — a declaration that another world is possible, and it is being built here, now, led by Indigenous Peoples.

Our work is built on the following:

1. Protect & Restore Indigenous Cultural Heritage
   Center TEK, matriarchal leadership, ceremony, and language.

2. Conserve & Enhance Biodiversity
   ReMatriate prairies, grow First Foods, reduce carbon footprint.

3. Promote Sustainable Development
   Geothermal, solar, green roofs, retrofits — every watt matters.

4. Preserve Historic & Cultural Significance
   Honoring our Indigenous culture and ways of being to create a just future.

5. Foster Community Engagement & Education
   Classrooms, kitchens, art spaces — tools for collective learning.

6. Support Healing Justice & Community Well-being
   Historically trauma-informed, culturally grounded care for all.

7. Encourage Economic Vitality & Innovation
   Launch pads, mutual aid café — building wealth that circulates, not extracts.

"ReMatriation is a call to reestablish Indigenous landscapes, bring back Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge and to give stolen power back to the feminine. In a world where unfettered patriarchal violence and greed has brought us to the precipice of a climate extinction, ReMatriation is the return of the matriarchy." — Sikowis Nobiss, ED of GPAS