Ukwakhwa Inc.
De Pere, Wisconsin
First Nations established the Native Arts Initiative (NAI) in 2014 to provide direct grantmaking, networking opportunities, and training and technical assistance (TTA) to Native-led arts and cultural hubs who are working to preserve and advance traditional Native arts through programming focused on supporting artists and intergenerational sharing of artistic skills and knowledge.
Under the NAI, First Nations provides awarded grantees with organizational and programmatic resources, including direct grants and technical assistance and training. Since 2014, First Nations has awarded more than $3.5 million in grant funds to a variety of eligible Native-controlled nonprofit organizations and tribal government programs under the NAI.
Ukwakhwa Inc.
Native Arts Donor-Funded Campaign: 2023-2026
Ukwakhwa seeks to expand our basket making classes, through “Field to Basket: The Craft of Haudenosaunee Sustenance,” a program aspiring to enhance cultural heritage on The Oneida Nation of Wisconsin Reservation. We began offering basket classes and events in 2020, now we intend to develop program infrastructure and sustainability to make Field to Basket an integral component of Ukwakhwa. Following two recent successful basket class series, with a third planned in 2024, we aim to conduct fourteen more over the grant period. This initiative, focusing on the complete journey of basket making and the application of traditional techniques in contemporary Haudenosaunee life, will protect the art form’s pivotal role in our food systems for future generations. Field to Basket will also spotlight the intersection of art and agriculture while sustaining Haudenosaunee cultural heritage. By leveraging traditional basket making as an asset for education, and intergenerational knowledge transfer, we will fortify basketry’s role and relevance in contemporary Haudenosaunee life.