A single question took NGO the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) down an unexpected but profound path. ‘Does ASES have any Native American mentors, and/or is your team educated about Native communities, so that if Native students wanted to participate in the Mentorship Match programme, they could work with a culturally literate mentor?’

This forthright query came from Red Cloud Renewable (RCR) at the Oglala Lakota Sioux community of Pine Ridge. For 15 years, it has provided renewable energy training to more than 1,000 Native American students in solar heating, off-grid and grid-tied solar systems, tiny homes and reforestation from a campus at Pine Ridge. In the question, RCR referred specifically to ASES' programme that connects energy professionals with those seeking to further their professional development in the energy field.

The answer to the question was no, and it raised important issues given the critical energy and health needs in Native American communities across North America. So we began to educate ourselves. We learned of the forced and failed federal assimilation policies like the Indian Removal Act and the Indian Reorganisation Act which have had lasting impacts, contributing significantly to contemporary challenges such as poverty and violence. These brutal policies disrupted traditional ways of life on every level, leading to systemic inequalities that persist today.