Milwaukee Intertribal Circle Has a New Home

Milwaukee Intertribal Circle hosted a crafting workshop at Lutheran Church of the Great Spirit in December 2025. The organization recently secured its own location on West Layton Avenue. (Photo by Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)

Milwaukee Intertribal Circle announced this week that, after months of searching, it signed a lease for a space at 6510 W. Layton Ave, Suite 101.

The address will serve as the Milwaukee Intertribal Community Center, a space where people of different backgrounds can be safe, comfortable and with one another.

“It’s been the mission to have a permanent home for Native Americans in Milwaukee and surrounding areas to have a place to gather,” said Paul Smith, vice president of the group.

Now, the Milwaukee Intertribal Circle is asking for help furnishing the new space.

Help needed

The group took to Facebook on Tuesday to ask Milwaukeeans and community partners for office furniture, tables and chairs that could be donated, sold at a reduced cost or otherwise parted with.

“Your contribution will help us create a functional and welcoming community center that serves the intertribal population within our community,” the post read.

Smith said the group may also need a fridge or two and office supplies.

“It’ll be an office space and gathering space, so we’ll need all the things that a brand new office building might need,” he said.

Milwaukee Intertribal Circle President Deanna Porter said classroom-style tables and chairs are especially important as the organization expands its programming.

“Now that we have our own space, we can branch out even further,” she said. “We don’t have to ask someone else if we can use their space.”

The organization is also seeking monetary donations and volunteers for community events throughout the year, including Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebrations and its annual New Year’s Eve powwow.

Milwaukee Intertribal Circle origins

Smith said following the COVID-19 pandemic, he and the group’s four founding partners noticed that there wasn’t much going on for the Native American community and wanted to change that.

“It came out of us growing up in Milwaukee and not having a place to go like we did when we were kids,” Smith said. “We had a number of different nonprofits in the ‘80s and early ‘90s.”

Smith said the United Indian Center, which his grandparents started in the ‘30s, was open to everyone.

“It was there to help and give folks with social services, and give them everything they needed from housing to education to jobs,” he said. “So we kind of want to be in that type of mode again.”

Porter; her sister Trina Cynova, the group’s treasurer; Jennifer Forecki, the group’s secretary; Marketing and Communications Director Sinceree Dixon; and Smith formed the Milwaukee Intertribal Circle two years ago to rebuild those community connections.

Porter said the new center is the fulfillment of a vision rooted in her own childhood.

Growing up, she spent time at the former United Indians of Milwaukee Community Center, where her father ran the boxing gym. She said cultural programming, ceremonies and community events were held throughout the building.

“I remember having birthday parties there. I remember funerals, baby showers, weddings, baptisms,” Porter said. “If you were part of the Native community and you needed the space, they provided that.”

She said those experiences gave her a strong sense of identity and belonging, something she wants future generations to experience.

“It just gave you a sense of confidence and self-esteem in who you are,” Porter said. “You gathered with people who had similar experiences, and you realized there were more people just like you.”

More than a gathering place

Milwaukee Intertribal Circle’s new home at 6510 W. Layton Ave. (Photo provided by Jamie Chapman)

Menominee Nation tribal member Kelly Waupoose Murphy said for her, Milwaukee Intertribal Circle has been a way to connect with other indigenous people in the community. She said urban natives sometimes feel a disconnect from their own tribal communities.

“Having this sense of belonging somewhere is vital. I feel the new space will help bridge that gap,” Waupoose Murphy said.

Beyond serving as a gathering place, the organization also connects Native residents with existing resources throughout the community.

Porter said the organization helps families navigate services such as health care, education and cultural programs by referring them to Gerald L. Ignace Indian Health Center, Indian Community School and the Milwaukee Public Schools First Nations Studies program, among others.

The organization also hosts cultural events, arts and crafts workshops, language programming and dance instruction. Weekly craft nights allow community members to work on regalia and learn traditional skills from experienced artists.

“We are open to anyone,” said Smith. “Anyone who is willing to learn, it’s there for them.”

For Porter, the new center represents much more than a building.

“This is my heart work,” she said. “I had this growing up, and I really wanted future generations to have it as well because it made such a difference in my life.”

Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.