The Black Native American Association was formed in the late summer of 1992. It gathered people of both African American and Native lineages— welcoming all who wanted to find belonging to their braided ancestries. The BNAA chose inclusion and modeled overcoming the old colonial tactics of blood quantum, antiblackness, and “bad blood.”
Rooted in Oakland and San Francisco, the Association became a visible presence in the Native community, with members whose indigeneity stretched across continents. They honored all their ancestors— the sacred work of healing their lineages. In 1995, when Lynn Marie Embry-Nimmer—Black and Tsalagi—was selected as Head Girl Dancer at fifteen, the first Black Native in the Bay to hold that role at the Hilltop Pow Wow, it felt like a communal breath of recognition. One of BNAA’s founders, Don “Little Cloud” Davenport, was chosen as Headman Dancer in 1977, carrying a similar lineage of Black Native representation.
The BNAA danced in Black History Month celebrations, held space at La Peña for Indigenous Peoples Day, and presented at the Oakland Museum. Their stories appeared in the Oakland Tribune, in anthologies, in documentaries—small signals that Black Native presence had always been here, as living testimony shaping this land’s memory. Their artists were featured in multicultural exhibitions; their founders received humanitarian awards honoring lives lived in service of community.
Yet the deepest work was quieter: teaching the Seventh Generation, offering talking circles, language classes, regalia making, genealogy guidance, and support for those navigating multiracial identities in a society that often refused to see them whole. Belonging is a crisis in the colonies, especially for black and indigenous peoples, and BNAA saved lives by building bridges. They collaborated with schools, pow wow committees, colleges, and local organizations, creating spaces where no child had to dance alone.
The BNAA no longer exists as an institution, but the imprint of its care endures—an echo of belonging that continues to guide those who inherit its teachings.
Research and writing by vandell yancey.
Video clip from The Internet Archives. Full Video here: https://archive.org/details/caolaam_000230?start=4214