Awarded Grants

Program Opportunity Statement (Recommended 300 words or less) Originally our program was located in a coffee shop (Painted Pony Coffee). They had art for sale from our local artists. Painted Pony is under the umbrella of Warm Springs Community Action Team (WSCAT). It is WSCAT who help establish us as a non-profit organization. In March, 2022, Tananawit opened in our own retail shop. That did not work out too well, the shop temporarily closed for business. The Board of Directors hired a new Executive Director, Debra Stacona in July, 2022. We reopened the shop in September with much success! We are located in a plaza of retail shops along highway 26 in Warm Springs, Oregon, next to the Indian Head Casino. Highway 26 is a direct connection between Western Oregon to Central and Eastern Oregon. Thousands of vehicles pass through daily. The opportunity that this grant will address is by giving us a chance to let the travelers know we are here, before they pass us up, by having visible signage for our art shop. We plan to install a sign above our shop windows in addition to signage close to the highway. We also want to promote our art shop in local arts magazines by buying ads.

The Texas Tribal Buffalo Project exists to establish Food Sovereignty and reconnect Texas Tribal people to the Buffalo. We are a community development organization using the Buffalo and Indigenous knowledge to create access to healthy food, resources, and cultural education opportunities.

Program Opportunity Statement (Recommended 300 words or less) Ojibwe immersion education is vastly different from monolingual English education. Ojibwe immersion educators often have to develop and create their own curriculum, resources, and assessments. Monolingual English schools have access to a plethora of resources, from classroom visuals (posters) to a wide variety of published curriculum to assessments. Therefore, Miin is working to create a network of all Ojibwe immersion schools and programs to support each other. One of the ways Miin is doing this is by providing a professional development training. Many times immersion schools are connected to a monolingual English school, and they have mandatory professional development training for the teachers. However, this professional development is geared towards Western Education of monolingual English speakers. The professional development training which Miin will provide is specifically designed for Ojibwe immersion educators, and is developed with Ojibwe-centric self-determined pedagogy grounded in Ojibwe language, worldview, and spiritual lifestyle. The training will be on Ojibwe language assessments and development. All of the immersion programs have asked for help with development and use of Ojibwe language assessments. The second part of our project is to continue to nurture the community of Ojibwe immersion educators which spans from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ontario. This will be done by providing the opportunity for them to meet and collaborate in-person. Miin will host a begining of the school year networking event, with a keynote speaker. Thus, allowing for educators to meet and deepen their connections across the schools and communities. These connections will help to provide a support system for the school year.

General Operating Support

This project will create multiple opportunities for tribal members to learn how to garden, engage in traditional food harvesting, and how to preserve foods. We will utilize traditional knowledge keepers and master gardeners to share information about food systems, restoring our relationships with foods, and increasing tribal members' food sovereignty.

This Project will create economic connections between Tribal food producers (fishermen, farmers, ranchers) and Tribal institutions by generating information on product needs and Tribal production capacity. It will also leverage existing storage and transportation capacity of Ziibimijwang Inc to link producers to Tribal institutional consumers.

Building off of previous First Nations awards, we plan to increase value of tribal caught salmon by utilizing technical, economic, and relevant social media leverage for tribal product branding to control shifting post-covid, retail-direct to-the-consumer markets.

Program Opportunity Statement (Recommended 300 words or less) In January 2023, Saad K'idilyé hosted a multi-day strategic planning session to create a comprehensive plan for the organization. Completion of this plan was integral not only for clarity on how to expand programming but also provide clear direction of future funding needs. A major concern for the organization is sustainability. In addressing our funding approach, the attending group identified online giving as a great feasible revenue stream. Saad K'idilyé has laid the ground work to create an online presence through their website and multiple social media accounts but have been unable to remain consistent with online engagement. All staff time is dedicated to maintaining programming. The planning group recognized there is a missed opportunity to engage online giving through their website and social media and proposed that the organization hire a website/social media coordinator. This position would work with Saad K'idilyé to produce consistent content and inspire followers to support the organization. Funding from First Nation Development Institute would allow Saad K'idilyé to work towards sustainability and follow through on suggestions made in our strategic plan.

This project will enable Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians to create 10 raised garden beds, setup their greenhouse, create an intergenerational Elder and youth Indigenous food sovereignty program and increase their capacity to share the produce grown by their Elders and youth with their community weekly at "Lunch with Elders".

Program Opportunity Statement (Recommended 300 words or less) Kahua Imua translates into two equally important meanings - fortifying a strong foundation and embracing the potential of future generations. We believe a strong foundation begins with family lifestyles, a commitment from parents and grandparents to prioritize Hawaiian culture and language in the home, and a confidence in cultural identity that extends beyond the conventions of our modern, urban lives. After generations of oppression, there needs to be a conscious and powerful shift in the way we raise and educate our children, the true wealth of all cultures. As children grow their resource base and skill, they become the powerful foundation which we need to progress our nation. Kahua Imua equips families with the knowledge, resources, and tools to re-prioritize Hawaiian culture and language in the home.