LAIPA's mission is rooted in the belief that reclaiming our cultural identity is part of our healing process and a powerful act of self-empowerment. By embracing our traditional ways, self-advocacy skills increase, which are crucial for individual, family and community well-being. Due to the alarming rates of severe depression in Los Angeles County, LAIPA is dedicated to demystifying mental health through culturally appropriate, gender-responsive, and healing-informed strategies especially with RAZA populations. Our commitment to healing, diversity, equity, and inclusion is rooted in our guiding principles of human rights, kinship, and interconnectedness. This guides our impact of creating healthy communities while building self sustainable pathways., Over the course of 32 years working in LA, we recognize the importance of facilitating the healing kinship circles have on the well being of indigenous families within the county.

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LAIPA was the local affiliate of the International Indian Treaty Council, in LA through which we organize and coordinate human rights advocacy and international policy making at the United Nations level.  We were involved in organizing the Peace and Dignity Journeys 2004, a trans-national organizing and spiritual run in 1992, 1996 and 2000, 2004, and 2008 dedicated to the survival of indigenous cultures, spirituality, and communities.   In 2000, LAIPA facilitated 6 stationary and 6 mobile Questionnaire Assistance Centers for the U.S. Census 2000 to assist our community members in filling out and returning their Census Questionnaire.  Through this effort we were able to increase the number of registered indigenous people from Mexico and Central American who were counted though our outreach efforts.  This collaboration helped bring to light the fact that over 50% of all Native Americans in California are from Mexico. Since 2002, LAIPA has worked with international non-governmental organizations to advocate for a United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

 

On September 2007, the U.N. Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was finally adopted by the General Assembly.  In 2006, LAIPA co-created Assembly Bill 2695 in California.  This bill would enhance workplace safety by permitting employers to obtain protective orders for the entire worksite when an employee or employees experience violence or a credible threat of violence in the workplace. This bill is important to LAIPA due to it's accessibility for un-documented organizers to be protected without each individual having to file separately, maneuvering through very intimidating process. During the 2006 Latino Congreso, the largest gathering of Latino rights advocacy groups, LAIPA created a resolution to address the need for Latino groups to be self-critical of the treatment of indigenous peoples and to support Indigenous identity and culture.  This resolution was approved by the general membership will be used as a tool for further networking and alliance building. 

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LAIPA has facilitated over 30 years of grassroots work by organizing, supporting, and providing resources to the community. LAIPA was founded as a direct result of grassroots mobilization efforts and has continued to build on the legacy of its establishment by maintaining community commitment. Through our community-based work, we embedded participatory strategies to gain community input and follow the lead of the communities we were serving. As a result, LAIPA supported the development of community gardens and farming to promote the importance of self-sufficiency, traditional food systems, and community building. LAIPA also contributed to the coordinating of community events focused on re-introducing indigenous health and medicinal practices and thereby positively impacting families and seniors in the community with accessible and effective methods of self-care and healthcare.

 

LAIPA has prioritized collaborate reproductive health and rights community based efforts. In 2008, after three years of work and support from the Third Wave Foundation and the Pacific Institute for Women’s Health, LAIPA formed an advisory group of 12 youth and adult women indigenous, xicanas, and latinas, who identified as activists and organizers between the ages of 17-30, and created a culturally responsive reproductive rights definition. This definition served as an advocacy and policy making tool for LAIPA to organize around and to wedge a genuine space for the voice of Indigenous women in the Reproductive Justice area. LAIPA’s Xinachtli Rites of Passage youth members have successfully organized and advocated for cultural identity, teen safety and organized 5 teen-led conferences, 4 retreats focusing on culture, higher education, indigenous rights, parent-child communication, and dating violence. With support from Grantmakers for Girls of Color we have bolstered our work with Xinachtli Comadres National Colectiva and have responded to the call and demand from grassroots organizations and community members for Xinachtli facilitator training and technical support.

 

In 2021-2022 we provided ten facilitator trainings which expanded the network to over 800 trained facilitators to date. Our grassroots efforts have continued to expand to a transnational scope with our most recent project, Aztlanahuac, a cultural embassy in Teotihuacan, Mexico City, Mexico that promotes cross-cultural connection and learning where we organized a grassroots collective cross-cultural learning week of events with panel lectures, workshops, trainings, community healing experiences, and performances. LAIPA’s unparalleled community commitment is evident throughout the last 30 years of our existence and we intend to weave that into our First Moon Justice Project.