Awarded Grants

Bezos Professional Development

Bezos Professional Development

This project will serve Yuchi youth and their families as we provide immersion language education at the Yuchi Immersion School, focusing on elementary grades. We will offer community classes focused on revitalizing our unique culture, ceremonies, stories, and land knowledge. We will continue to build our capacity as we learn from Elders, train teachers, and exchange with other Indigenous language programs.

Our project will further expand our resources and materials for KCLC’s newly developed yearlong map, which will focus on animals through our Language and Culture curriculum, using an intergenerational approach that supports our students’ and families’ language and culture. To assist each child in Keres language development, KCLC will provide our 22 children (ages 0–18) learning opportunities about animals in the following developmental domains: Physical Spiritual Social Intellectual Emotional Linguistic Grace and Courtesy

Ke Kula ʻO Piʻilani is an independent Hawaiian culture and language immersion school in ʻĪao Valley that has provided academic rigor in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi from a Hawaiian perspective since 2016. Our vision is an enriched modern education with engaged communities and nurtured families fluent in Hawaiian wisdom, knowledge, and language. We serve elementary school youth as well as families from around Maui Island.

Nkwusm Salish Language School is a non-profit organization, serving the Salish and Pend d’Oreille communities on the Flathead Reservation in northwestern Montana. Nkwusm has successfully operated a Salish language immersion school for twenty years, providing instruction to more than 140 children, ages 2-14, and ultimately recreating the process whereby the Salish language is passed from parent to child since its founding in 2002.

We would like to use these funds for our operational needs, including Child Care Assistant position for our new Child Care, classroom supplies, and training opportunities. Our new program has just received certification through the Colville Confederated Tribes to provide child care services for children ages 0-12 years old. Our child care program will provide our Hearts Gathered students wrap-around child care and child care opportunities for our community which is on the Colville Indian Reservation.

Hopitutuqaiki will provide a year-round Hopi language immersion experience for 3-4 year-olds and a Hopi language and culture experience for older students and adults involving traditional and non-traditional art projects and panel discussions of cultural aspects of cultural life. Students from 3 years old through elders will be served on the Hopi Reservation in Northeast Arizona. Some activities may be videoed or streamed to enable Hopi living in other areas to attend.

In 2020, with help from Melvin Consulting, ZYEP established a four year strategic action plan that set specific goals that would strengthen the organization in our mission and our sustainability. Setting these intentions helped ZYEP think beyond the current operating year and make long term plans for a deeper impact. These goals are not always program or activity specific, but more capacity building and operational focused. This general operating grant will allow ZYEP to invest in our strategic action plan.

Kaststenserion "Giving Strength" our project is to strengthen both the Friends of the Akwesasne Freedom School, Inc and the Akwesasne Freedom School. The project will serve all staff, teachers, trainees and families of the Akwesasne Freedom School.