Indigenous voices challenge design norms
By Aadi Mehta, February 10, 2026
Cal Poly Pomona Tribal Relations and the College of Environmental Design hosted their first webinar of the “Designing For, By and With: Indigenous Voices of the Land” series Jan. 28, examining how design institutions engage Indigenous knowledge through conversations about land and ecology.
The first webinar of the series, titled “Sovereignty in Design,” explored challenges in exercising sovereignty over tribal land, emphasizing aspects of resistance, the environment and justice.
Landscape architecture lecturer Muriel Fernandez moderated the webinar, held in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design’s McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology.
“Indigenous peoples are often brought in after a design is already finalized, just to give a land acknowledgment,” Fernandez said. “To me, that’s tokenism. There’s no real involvement in the conception or the decision-making.”
Fernandez said Indigenous designs are not fast-paced models and require a lot of time for discussion and respect. For many, this is often understood as a delay.
“This work isn’t transactional,” Fernandez said. “It’s about developing relationships, understanding your role and committing to partnership rather than extraction.”
According to Article 11.1 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, using Indigenous design without consent violates the rights of Indigenous people.
“Indigenous peoples have the right to practise and revitalize their cultural traditions and customs,” the declaration states. “This includes the right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future manifestations of their cultures, such as archaeological and historical sites, artefacts, designs, ceremonies, technologies and visual and performing arts and literature.”
The event featured two panelists: Lisa Prosper, an independent cultural heritage consultant and senior advisor to ERA Architects, and Joseph Kunkel, principal of the Sustainable Native Community Design Lab for MASS Design.
Prosper decided to join the panel because of its emphasis on sovereignty and its alignment with her work in cultural heritage and architecture.
“Much of my practice involves working with communities to ensure that histories, values and cultural knowledge are embedded into projects from the beginning, rather than layered on afterward,” Prosper said. “The panel’s emphasis on collaboration and Indigenous leadership reflects the kinds of processes I see as essential for ethical and meaningful heritage work.”
While Prosper said she welcomed the opportunity to talk about Indigenous architecture, she said communities must move beyond symbolic recognition to achieve tangible results.
“Commemoration should be paired with action that benefits the people whose histories are being represented,” Prosper said.
The title of the series, “Designing For, By, and With: Indigenous Voices of the Land,” speaks to the importance of allowing Native tribes access to designs from the beginning, unless the work is done in service to the tribe, according to Desireé Martinez, director of Tribal Relations and CalNAGPRA/NAGPRA.
“This was one of the first times in decades where Native people were involved at the very beginning of a project, and the designers actually listened,” Martinez said.
A major topic discussed at the event was Traditional Ecological Knowledge, or TEK, which is the sum of practices and beliefs regarding the relationship between humans and the environment, according to the Indigenous Climate Hub.
While these ideas have existed for centuries, Martinez said sharing this knowledge now is necessary because of climate change, and the increasing disconnection from land affects everyone, not just Indigenous communities.
“We’re sharing this knowledge because if we don’t, the world is going to crash and burn,” Martinez said. “This isn’t abstract, it’s about survival.”
The series will continue with three more webinars starting Feb. 25 with “Designing from and for Community” on Zoom from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Those interested can register on the CPP Environmental Design Instagram page.
