Rebecca Adamson was born 1949 to a Cherokee mother and a Swedish American Father in Akron, Ohio. Through spending summers with her Cherokee grandmother, Adamson learned of her Cherokee historical and cultural roots. Adamson left University of Akron in 1970 in order to begin pursuing her true passion in working with indigenous communities.
Adamson’s work in activism began as she left college. Her first work began with her involvement in a group fighting to prevent Native children from being forcibly placed into boarding schools outside of their communities. These curriculum within these schools lacked any sort of education on Native culture. However, through Adamson’s work Congress released the Indian Education Self-determination Act in 1975, allowing Native communities to run their own schools.
Additionally, due to Adamson’s resume in economics, she began working on a project to help Native communities build their way out of poverty through small businesses. Initially a small project in which Adamson traveled to get additional funding, this idea blossomed into The First Nations Development Institute. This has grown to have connections in over 20 states and 1,000 communities.
Adamson has shown her support for Native people by traveling all over the world to raise awareness. She has spread her interests to Natives also not from Turtle Island, traveling to Botswana and Australia. Paired with this she also serves as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations’ International Labor Organization for International Indigenous Rights. Through all of her non-profit work Rebecca Adamson provides hope that there are genuine people fighting to bring attention to the injustices Native people face all over the world.
Sources
https://www.makers.com/rebecca-adamson
