Ancient Wisdom Guides Today’s Paths:
Respect, Relevance, Reciprocity, Responsibility

Thursday, September 10, 2026
9:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Virginia Crossings Hotel & Center

This year’s annual Sovereignty Conference will feature four sessions.  Each will highlight one of the themes: Respect, Relevance, Reciprocity, and Responsibility.

• Session 1 – Respect: Acknowledging the inherent worth, dignity, and unique worldviews of Indigenous peoples and their knowledge systems.
• Session 2 – Relevance: Ensuring that K-12 and higher education include meaningful Indigenous cultural and historic content for all learners.
• Session 3 – Reciprocity: Building relationships based on mutual sharing, understanding, and benefit, moving beyond extractive research models.
• Session 4 – Responsibility: Recognizing the obligations of the Commonwealth of Virginia to include Indigenous nations in legal codes and opportunities already available to others. 

To meet rising costs and continue to provide a comfortable and engaging conference experience, we will be introducing a registration fee for both in-person and virtual participation.  The fee covers your attendance and a well-prepared meal for those attending in-person.

$50 General In-Person Fee
$35 Tribal Citizen and Staff Fee
$15 Virtual Fee