InnoNative Consulting

Name: InnoNative Consulting
Address: Minneapolis, MN, US
Telephone: +16128659085

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Minneapolis, MN
InnoNative Consulting

Offers full-service strategic guidance and support for Native-led and Native-serving organizations

05/11/2026

Oscar Howe broke norms and redefined design expectations.

He was born on May 9, 1915, at Joe Creek, South Dakota, on the Crow Creek Reservation. He identified as a Yanktonai Dakota man.

At the age of seven, Howe was sent to the Pierre Indian Boarding School, which sought to assimilate its students by forcing them away from their Indigenous cultural practices. Howe did not know English and endured violent behavior because of it. He ended up losing months of education when he was sent home due to a medical condition that was dismissed as incurable.

In 1938, he graduated from the Santa Fe Indian School and was encouraged by his teacher, Dorothy Dunn, to use his Indian culture to inspire his artwork. By 1940, he joined the South Dakota Artists Project and began making public artworks. Howe served three years in the U.S. military before enrolling at Dakota Wesleyan University in 1948 to earn his undergraduate degree.

As Howe developed his early work, he extended beyond his boundaries and developed a more abstract approach to painting. He continued to develop his skills while earning his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1954.

Howe worked as the art director at T.F. Riggs High School in Pierre, South Dakota. In 1957, he was given a professorship at the University of South Dakota in Vermilion, where he continued his teaching for 25 years.

In 1958, Howe submitted artwork to the Philbrook competition. This artwork completely defied the jury's expectations and resulted in a rejection letter, which Howe refuted on the grounds that his paintings are the "traditional Indian style" and that whoever disagrees has a poor knowledge of Indian art. His rebuttal letter led Philbrook to change their rules.

Howe is widely credited with opening museums to a greater range of styles and expressions by Indigenous artists. His art has been displayed at many museums, such as the Plains Art Museum, the South Dakota Art Museum, the National Museum of the American Indian, and more.

Today, Howe's achievements stand as a beacon, altering the landscape of Native American art and empowering Indigenous voices.

05/04/2026

Today's innovator is Joy Harjo.

Joy Harjo was born on May 9, 1951, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a larger city that is a part of the Muscogee Nation. Harjo grew up as Joy Foster, the oldest of four siblings. She later changed her last name to match her Mvskoke grandmother's family name.

Harjo is from the Muscogee Nation and belongs to Oce Vpofv. Growing up, she was surrounded by a world of artists and musicians. Her mother, grandmother, and aunt all wrote songs. This inspired Harjo to write her very first poem in the eighth grade.

At an early age, Harjo experienced some violent behavior within her family regarding her parents. While at school, she often expressed herself through painting. When she turned 16, she left home to continue her education at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This is where she further explored her interest in Native art, participated in Native drama, and wrote songs for an all-Native rock band.

For her secondary education, Harjo attended the University of New Mexico as a pre-med student. She later switched her major to creative writing, inspired by her work with Native American poets Simon J. Ortiz and Leslie Marmon Silko.

In 1975, Harjo published her first book of nine poems called "The Last Song." A year later, she graduated from college and began the Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing at the University of Iowa. After graduating from this program, she began teaching at universities such as the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, and others.

By 1980, Harjo published her first full-length volume of poetry called "What Moon Drove Me to This?" Since then, she has also published nine books of poetry, two memoirs, plays, and several books for young audiences.

Among her many awards, in 2009 she won a Native American Music Award for Best Female Artist of the Year. Harjo is a founding board member and chair of the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation and was elected Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets in 2019. "She has since been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame, the National Native American Hall of Fame, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters".

Today, Harjo inspires other creative artists with her works and achievements.

04/28/2026

InnoNative is highlighting innovators across Indian Country, starting with Mary Golda Ross.

Mary Golda Ross was born on August 9, 1908, in Park Hill, Oklahoma, a small town within the Cherokee Nation. Ross grew up as a talented child and was sent to live with her grandparents closer to the capital of the Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

At an early age, Ross had interests in math and science. In 1928, she received her bachelor's degree in mathematics from Northeastern State Teachers College. Continuing her education, Ross took every astronomy class available to her and in 1938, she received her master's degree from the Colorado State Teachers College.

Navigating life through the Great Depression, Ross taught subjects such as math and science for nine years in rural Oklahoma schools. In 1941, Ross moved to California to seek out work opportunities after the national service call. During WWII, Ross was hired as a mathematician and research assistant at Lockheed Aircraft Corporation.

Ross was a part of a group known informally as Skunk Works, where she worked on improving a US Army Air Forces fighter plane known as P–38 Lightning using her knowledge of aerodynamic forces.

Ross continued her education at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Extension, where she qualified as a registered professional engineer in 1949. Her remarkable path allowed her to take on more complex projects during the Cold War.

Today, Ross is known as the first Native American woman engineer, a role model for many young engineers.

Margolis, E. A., & Montiel, A. (2022, February 11). Mary Golda Ross: Aerospace Engineer, Educator, and Advocate. Airandspace.si.edu. https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/mary-g-ross-aerospace-engineer

Mary Golda Ross: The First Native American Aerospace Engineer and Space Race Pioneer. (2025, August 8). Www.amightygirl.com. https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=26040

01/21/2026

InnoNative will be closed for business on Friday, January 23, 2026. We encourage all clients and contractors to complete work before that day so we can dedicate Friday to organizing, community, and reflection on our current moment.

In solidarity with Native and non-Native relatives who are being targeted and harmed in the ongoing federal immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota and beyond, including the recent fatal shooting of Renee Good and related events that have sparked statewide protest and calls for justice, we encourage everyone in Minnesota to consider how they can support a safer, more just, and more neighborly community.

Please join us and others across the state in participating in this day of protest.

07/23/2025

Indigenous entrepreneurship is a declaration of sovereignty.
Every LLC. Every storefront. Every new hire.
This is how we build intergenerational freedom—one venture at a time.

07/21/2025

You can’t out-fundraise a broken trust cycle.
But when your story, your strategy, and your stewardship are aligned—
trust flows.
And where trust flows, dollars follow.

07/18/2025

Anyone can win a grant.
Can you win five years of consistent growth?
We help nonprofits design advancement ecosystems that outlast funding cycles—and grow stronger with each donor who says yes.

07/16/2025

Funders don’t invest in desperation.
They invest in direction.
When you show up rooted in what’s already working—momentum follows.

07/14/2025

Scarcity says “there’s not enough.”
Abundance says “we just haven’t connected the dots yet.”
We’ve helped clients replace fear with clarity—and align with funders who don’t just have money, but a mission match.
Strategy isn’t just smart—it’s liberating.

07/11/2025

You’re not tired because you’re bad at your job.
You’re tired because you’re doing 4 of them.
Our job?
Lift the marketing plan off your plate.
Streamline your donor messaging.
Build the system so you can lead with clarity, not chaos.

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Minneapolis, MN

Telephone

+16128659085

Website

http://Innonative.net/

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