Origin Story

Founded by Cody Two Bears in 2017, Indigenized Energy is a capacity-building nonprofit dedicated to helping tribes achieve energy sovereignty and transition away from fossil fuels.

In 2013, Cody Two Bears became the youngest elected leader in the history of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, representing the Cannonball community at the northern tip of the reservation. During his leadership, the Dakota Access Pipeline was rerouted to cross near Cannonball, threatening the community’s water, sacred sites, and future. Cody and the Standing Rock community stood in firm opposition, helping spark a global movement that brought more than 350 tribal nations together in an unprecedented show of solidarity.

When the pipeline was ultimately pushed through by executive order in 2017, Cody resolved that Native communities needed more than protest — they needed solutions. That same year, he founded Indigenized Energy, a nonprofit dedicated to helping tribes achieve energy sovereignty, transition away from fossil fuels, and reclaim control over their future. The organization’s first project was the largest solar farm in North Dakota, built just miles from the pipeline crossing, bringing renewable power, jobs, and hope to one of the nation’s poorest counties.

Since then, Indigenized Energy has grown in both size and impact. More than a builder of projects, the organization is a capacity-building partner for tribes — helping design sustainable energy programs, develop Native workforce training, and create long-term solutions that tribes can manage and own. By partnering with leading solar developers, key nonprofits, and tribal nations across the Plains and beyond, Indigenized Energy has expanded its ability to empower communities, secure funding, train Native workforces, and sustain long-term energy solutions. Each project not only provides clean energy and economic opportunity but also strengthens cultural identity and community resilience.

At its core, Indigenized Energy is more than an energy organization — it’s a movement to indigenize energy: to design renewable energy solutions that reflect the values, traditions, and sovereignty of the Native communities they serve.