Stewardship in Action
As we recognize our first year as Tallgrass Institute and look forward to 2026, my thoughts are focused on our role as stewards of the ecosystem we have been entrusted with. At Tallgrass, many facets of our role have come into new focus over the last year.
We continue to hear from Indigenous Peoples around the world that they are facing new incursions by companies onto their lands. Many Indigenous leaders are viewing new developments in AI data centers and in ongoing global militarization as not only potential drivers of new land concessions for mining and extractive infrastructure without consent, but also as destabilizing of local economic and social wellbeing. The impacts are many and are advancing at a fast pace from multiple sectors and, in many cases, with minimal government oversight.
At the root of all of these impacts is extractive patterns of engagement with Indigenous Peoples moving with centuries of inertia. So, I am grateful that our work didn’t start today. We have built through Tallgrass and as Indigenous Peoples networks of solidarity and support that are visioning and building a better world than what we see today.
Indigenous Peoples know what valid consent looks like. Indigenous Peoples are forging new ways towards economic thriving. Networks of investors see the ways to integrate Indigenous insights into their portfolio design and engagement strategies.
The proliferation of domestic and global crises we bear witness to daily have their origins in colonialism, extraction, and prioritizing profit over respect for life. The importance of recognizing Indigenous Peoples in investment criteria too often gets buried in these actions and the zero-sum narratives that surround them. We are here, nevertheless, tending to and nurturing these old new ways of being.
The risk profile of failing to recognize Indigenous Peoples and to integrate their concerns into investment criteria is unchanged.
For us, this year we will focus on stewardship in action. At Tallgrass, we will telegraph the complexity and nuance faced by Indigenous leaders in a rapidly changing business and geopolitical environment. And while this complexity continues to be undervalued by the market, the risk profile of failing to recognize Indigenous Peoples and to integrate their concerns into investment criteria is unchanged. At the same time that companies in the U.S. and elsewhere are being encouraged to shift away from consideration of long-term value in environmental and social terms, Tallgrass will continue to build information pathways and connectivity rich with Indigenous knowledge and practical guidance that signal that better horizon.
We know that the way to weather storms is through connection, solidarity, and communication. We will connect with Indigenous leaders through trainings, convenings, and exchanges and we will continue to thread Indigenous Peoples’ priorities in our networks. We are here to receive and transmit information that keeps the high line for respect for self-determination and free, prior and informed consent.
We will, as is fundamental to our values, navigate the complex, interconnected web of economic realities to address challenges and create opportunities.
~Kate
See Also
Photos (top to bottom): Tundra flowers from Alta (Sámi land); the view from Ghost Ranch (Tewa Territory).