As Indigenous communities envision their future, it is without question that the Indigenous youth play a significant role in sustaining their Indigenous lifeways and communities. They will no doubt be faced with the responsibility to navigate socio-cultural, environmental, political and economic issues while simultaneously preserving their Indigenous knowledge systems. Educators have the capacity to prepare youth for the responsibility of understanding colonialism and to begin the process of helping youth understand such tactics to protect Indigenous land, people, languages, and culture. When Indigenous youth are provided with the necessary knowledge, skills and analytical tools to navigate this future undertaking, they will be prepared to be protectors and change agents for their Indigenous communities; which, in turn, reflects nation-building. In this article, I will provide an overview of Indigenous social justice pedagogy and explain its role in Indigenous nation-building efforts. In addition, I will draw on experiences of engaging Diné youth (ages 12-14) in a decolonizing process and discuss what it means to teach from an Indigenous social justice framework that invokes critical inquiry with individual and collective action.