Upper Sioux Community

Upper Sioux Community

Granite Falls, Minnesota

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.

2023-2025 Native Arts Initiative

About Upper Sioux Community

The Upper Sioux Community (USC), part of the Dakota Oyate (Nation), is a 547-member tribe in Minnesota. It is located along the Minnesota River, near its confluence with the Yellow Medicine River, in an area of ancient homelands known as Pezihutazizi Kapi, “the place where they dig for yellow medicine.”

After the United States/Dakota War in 1862, Dakota people were exiled from Minnesota, but a small group returned in the late 1800s. In 1938, 746 acres of land were returned to Dakota people living in the area, and the Upper Sioux Community gained federal recognition. The Community continues to grow, enlarging its land base and economic independence, while strengthening its culture and traditions.

How First Nations Will Help

Funding from First Nations supports the Upper Sioux Community’s Dakota Arts Program in providing local community-centered education and artist support. These initiatives include classes on traditional Dakota art, as well as opportunities for Dakota artists to access traditional Dakota art currently in museum collections and to find inspiration from significant places throughout Dakota homelands.

COMMUNITY PARTNER Q&A

We believe that cultural treasures are our own people. Our tribal community includes many down-to-earth, traditional people with a wealth of knowledge and experience who are willing to share and pass down what they have learned about Dakota culture to those who want to learn. The more we can expose other tribal members to these “cultural treasures,” the greater and more widespread the transfer of generational knowledge will be, ensuring the preservation of the Upper Sioux Community, the “People of Yellow Medicine.”

The Upper Sioux Community has designated the Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPO) to oversee its cultural and artistic revitalization, interwoven with managing and preserving the tribe’s historic and sacred properties. That includes serving as the cultural advisor on collections in museums and local art shows. We try to mix art with revitalization, like learning how teepees were painted and the significance of the designs.

When engaged in consultation and sacred-site protection responsibilities, THPO staff are expected to be knowledgeable in all areas of Dakota cultural, design, and traditional activities. Expanding the traditional knowledge base of each employee is essential and is accomplished by sharing that knowledge with one another and revitalizing traditional arts and practices to acquire a deeper understanding of cultural activities such as flintknapping, crafting wooden and stone weapons, tools, and instruments, working with leather, utilizing traditional design elements, learning prayer songs, and more.

Our THPO staff then shares what they learn with the community as much as possible during cultural and artistic events. They also share that knowledge with the larger Dakota and Indigenous community through consultation and education initiatives.

Learn more about the Upper Sioux Community