When pop star Lizzo took the stage at the People’s Choice Awards on Dec. 6, she shared her spotlight with 17 other young woman activists, including a member of the Chappaquiddick tribe of the Wampanoag Indian Nation.

Kara Roselle Smith, 28, grew up attending the annual Chappaquiddick burial gathering at Cape Pogue Pond, her most tangible touchstone to a culture in which her mother, former tribal historian Alma Gordon, made sure she was immersed. In 2020, Ms. Smith began spreading awareness herself, making TikToks about Chappaquiddick history and her experience as an Afro-Indigenous woman that have racked up millions of views and brought her over 120,000 followers.

One such video, a TikTok about the tribe’s GoFundMe campaign to acquire and maintain land on Chappaquiddick, caught the eye of pop star Lizzo and her team. Lizzo commented, shared and donated. A few months later, a call came: Lizzo’s team had invited her to the People’s Choice Awards in Santa Monica, Calif.

“It was a peak life experience,” Ms. Smith said in a phone call with the Gazette.

Lizzo had been honored with the People’s Champion Award, thanks in part to her active and diverse philanthropical work. In that same spirit, she used her speech as an opportunity to further highlight the activism of others, particularly the work Black women are doing in their communities.

“Tonight, I am sharing this honor.” Lizzo told the crowd. “Make some noise for the people, y’all. These are all activists and people that I think deserve the spotlight.”

Lizzo went on to shout out each activist, saying Ms. Smith “works tirelessly” to seek justice for Black and indigenous communities, a compliment Ms. Smith said should really go to her mom, whose work she’s sought to continue.

Other invitees included Mari Copeny a.k.a. Little Miss Flint, the child activist who called attention to the drinking water crisis in Flint, Mich., Shout Your Abortion co-founder Amelia Bonow, and Tamika Palmer, the mother of police shooting victim Breonna Taylor.

“We really bonded over the 48 hours we were together,” Ms. Smith said. “I was honored and humbled to be in the same room as everybody…it was nothing but love.”

As an indigenous rights advocate, Ms. Smith is a proponent of the Land Back movement, which she says has no one set definition or dogma, since different indigenous activists have their own interpretations of the same idea.

“It’s not a mass eviction of the people who are currently living there,” she explained. “It’s allowing indigenous culture and tradition to have sovereignty over the land for the benefit of all of us.”

Ms. Smith used the North Fork Mono tribe of northern California as an example, where indigenous peoples have lit controlled burns for centuries to promote sustainable forest growth and prevent larger wildfires. After a particularly bad string of wildfires in the area, local government has taken the practice back up.

“It’s about letting indigenous knowledge drive how best to take care of the land,” she added.

Ms. Smith now serves on the tribal council of the Chappaquiddick tribe, where her mother once served as tribal historian and sonksq (head or chief) before her death in September of this year.

Her main goals for the tribe involve continuing to build outreach and engagement within a community that has not held sovereign land since 1870, when the island became absorbed by Edgartown. Unlike the Mashpee and Aquinnah tribes of the Wampanoag, the Chappaquiddick tribe was also never federally recognized.

“We haven’t had the same opportunities as other tribes,” Ms. Smith said of the uphill battle. “Things had shown up for them that hadn’t shown up for us.”

Still, moments of recognition like Tuesday night have energized her to press forward. The GoFundMe has surpassed its $100,000 goal, and next year, thanks to proceeds from the Chappy Point to Point road race, the Chappaquiddick tribe will begin building a wetu, a traditional wooden dwelling, near Wasque for educational purposes.

“I had been stepping into it for a while, but it feels amazing to be able to continue my mom’s work,” Ms. Smith said. “This past week feels very affirming, and while she wasn’t here physically I think she saw it, and definitely orchestrated to help make it happen.”