Hunter
09/15/25
An Indigenous-led non-profit group says they want to establish a community hub in Iowa City.
The Gazette reports the Great Plains Action Society, centered on social and climate change, is looking at a group of existing buildings near the Riverfront Crossings neighborhood. After some renovations, they hope to use them for a variety of community-oriented uses including industrial kitchens, entrepreneurial start-ups, meeting rooms, classrooms and offices. There also are plans for an urban garden.
The sale of the buildings, which sit on an acre of land along Maiden Lane, is contingent on a rezoning request that just passed its first reading at the last City Council meeting. Two more readings are required to pass for the rezoning to take effect.
Sikowis Nobiss is the executive director for Great Plains. She says their mission is to veer away from a colonial capitalist-led society and bring back indigenous culture and traditions that don’t just focus on money. She added that she wanted the hub in Iowa City and not in an area that already has a relatively large Native American population because it’s important to begin claiming spaces where they’ve been “pushed out.”