In the face of countless extractive industries defacing their land over so many decades — from uranium and coal mining to methane, hydro, and hydrogen production — Tó Nizhóní Ání (TNA) has organized at the grassroots for a community-led economic vision that instead centers water, health, and local livelihoods. Resource Media and TNA have joined forces in the fight for years, and most recently — as part of our La Madre Tierra initiative — in a unique online campaign to push back on a pipeline for methane-produced hydrogen.
Designs that demand attention
TNA and its allies organizing on Navajo Nation have long marshalled striking visuals to protest and connect, from banners and signs outside tribal government meetings to huge billboards along the main roads on the Nation to online videos and photography.
Our campaign built on these deep roots designing three original art posters featuring resonant themes and cultural touch points — all centering Navajo Nation land. We distributed them on Meta both organically and through paid promotion, inviting TNA’s social media followers — and all Navajo Nation residents on the platforms — to help pick which one to run as a print ad in the Navajo Times.
A contest that captured interest
In a digital world where many are most readily reached on their feeds, there’s a constant quest for content that will stop the scrolling and pull people into a deeper level of interest, shaping views and affecting behavior. Creating a virtual “contest” to select among three pieces of art did the trick.
With just a small budget for paid promotion and relying heavily on organic, TNA’s post drove thousands of shares, reactions, and clicks, and elicited hundreds of comments with suggestions for which version to run in the paper. Wondering which of the three posters won the most support from the online push? That’s exactly the kind of curiosity gap that helped spark this campaign to such success (and yes, you can see the winning poster in the Navajo Times ad here.)
Resource Media’s La Madre Tierra initiative engages and mobilizes Latine and Indigenous communities for clean, healthy, and resourced communities — and against environmental injustice, misinformation, and other intersecting forms of oppression. Our project with TNA uncovered a way to breathe real life into this mission — connecting to an issue on an emotional level through art and inviting others into the conversation.
