Awarded Grants

Tepniwew strengthens tribal sovereignty by building a self‑sustaining food system. We protect and grow community assets—land, buffalo, gardens, milling, storage, and food access—to ensure our people can nourish themselves through the principle what we eat here, we grow here.

Through this grant period, I hope to grow as a practitioner, a scholar, and a connector of Indigenous knowledge communities across the Pacific. As a practitioner, I will deepen my competency in traditional Micronesian canoe carving and sail weaving under Palu Larry, skills that directly inform my understanding of Hawaiian material culture and pre-Western-contact voyaging technology. This embodied knowledge will enrich my PhD research in ways that no library can provide. As a scholar, I will present ongoing research and collaborative work at several international conferences and festivals, including ACHS (Wellington), ASAO (Samoa), and IMPAC6 (Dakar), contributing to Indigenous-led conversations about wayfinding heritage, maritime revitalization, and traditional ecological knowledge. These presentations will reach academics, policymakers, cultural practitioners, and community leaders across multiple disciplines and regions. As a connector, I will strengthen relationships between Indigenous wayfinding communities across Oceania and beyond (i.e., from Haida Gwaii to Fiji to PNG to Aotearoa), helping to build the inter-community network that makes knowledge sharing and mutual support possible. Through the Pacific Traditions Society, I will support ongoing revitalization efforts in Taumako, PNG, Fiji, and Micronesia (Polowat). Knowledge sharing will take multiple forms: conference presentations, community participation in cultural festivals and symposia, mentorship relationships, and the documentation of practices for community use. My PhD research itself is an act of Indigenous-led knowledge preservation — grounding pre-Western-contact Hawaiian wayfinding traditions in rigorous scholarship that can serve Hawaiian communities and future generations. Ultimately, this project contributes to a larger vision: a Pacific in which Indigenous wayfinding knowledge is not a relic of the past but a living, growing, inter-connected practice, carried forward by practitioners who know each other, support each other, and learn from each other across the blue continent of Oceania.

This project brings Tribal members together through a Healing Through Food Sovereignty event featuring Indigenous food demos, cultural teachings, and community meals. This overall advances healing and strengthens connections to traditional food systems, stewardship, and agriculture.

This project convenes Native producers and Tribal Leaders to highlight a diverse range of topics including healthcare, education, culture, economic development, and other issues impacting Native communities.

As artistic director and program coordinator, I will work directly with the members of my tribe and other local tribes from start to completion of Nuwu Um-buh-gah #2. First, Southern Paiute elders and knowledge keepers in Nevada and Utah who speak the language will help guide me and this project. Listening is essential when collaborating with our tribal knowledge keepers, and as an artist, I am carrying that knowledge to produce visual resources to teach and educate the following generations. As a main goal, I will produce the images and give the physical language access materials to tribal educators and community members – including youth and families. They will use the coloring pages and card decks in language-acquisition classes held on their respective reservation homelands. I engage with the Las Vegas Paiute Child Development Center and Moapa Childcare Center with both coloring pages and the second language deck. Through engaging the community and cultivating relationships with our relatives, we will accomplish a language project that assists in the revitalization of the rich heritage of the Nuwu, the original people of Southern Nevada. The seeds for this project were planted years ago, as environmental activism rests at the foundation of Nuwu Um-buh-gah. These illustrations are silent, yet powerful, highlighting flora, fauna, and natural landscapes in the southern Great Basin. The images advocate for the protection of areas of critical concern and encourage stewardship of the land. It is easy for us urban Natives who live in city environments to become disconnected from the land. I hope to reach both our rural and urban communities with the art of Nuwu Um-buh-gah, helping to reconnect people with the plants and animals, along with our Southern Paiute stories. The primary audience is Nuwu people – children, families, and elders. While language fluency is not the goal, maintenance and beginning children on the path to greater language acquisition is possible among the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe and Moapa Band of Paiutes. Nuwu Um-buh-gah: Paiute Language Deck #2 will be used in schools, language symposiums, and in homes on these and other reservations. The visual flashcard decks and coloring pages teach cultural knowledge, allowing young people to gain fluency in not just words, but with establishing a connection to the environment. Artistic images are powerful tools for immersive language instruction, since they allow for communication of ideas and concepts without resorting to English. Teaching with traditional visuals also adds interest, as these tools can be used to teach about the importance of plants and animals in areas of critical concern in the Mojave Desert. This interdisciplinary project uniquely combines the visual arts, material culture, and cultural revitalization efforts. Nuwu Um-buh-gah #2 will help deliver To-veep’s message to the people by growing language speakers, and strengthening Indigenous traditions.

This project supports the Tataviam Land Conservancy’s (TLC) Tiüvac'a'ai Tribal Conservation Corps (TTCC). This tribal youth workforce development program will support on-the-ground maintenance and restoration efforts at the Kajva Amercian Indian Cultural Center.

This grant supports the Denver Indian Family Resource Center's Navajo Song & Dance Event.

With this support, I hope to grow this skill, discipline, relationship and continuity. Making a net requires thousands of repeated and intentional movements. Through this process, I am strengthening patience, consistency, and care. These are not abstract outcomes. They show up in how I make, how I fish, and how I take care of the tools that I rely on. Through mentorship with Chuck Leslie, I will deepen my understanding of technique, pacing, and long-term stewardship. Learning alongside someone who has maintained a working net for over 50 years reinforces that this practice is not about completion, but about sustaining something over time. This is the standard I am working toward. I also expect to strengthen my understanding of materials through both contemporary and natural fibers. By planting, gathering and processing fibers in small ways, I will begin to understand how material, place, and function are connected. This knowledge supports a shift away from dependency on purchased materials and toward a more grounded, place-based practice. The application of this learning will happen through continuedm everyday use. I will build and repair nets, fish with them, and refine my technique through repetition. Over time, this practice becomes something I can share in informal, hands-on ways with others in my ʻohana and community. The people this work will reach are those already close to me: family members, keiki and community members in Waimānalo who are curious about net making but have not had access to learn. I will not approach this as formal instruction, but as shared practice. Sitting together, tying knots, and learning through doing. This is how this knowledge has always moved. There is already strong interest. When I sit and make nets, it brings forward stories. People talk about family members who once made nets, fishing practices that have faded, and the desire to learn what was not passed down. This project helps create the conditions for those conversations to turn into action. In terms of Indigenous knowledge sharing, this work contributes by keeping ʻike in motion without extracting it from its context. Learning is grounded in relationship, guided by kūpuna, and carried forward through use. It is not about documenting for distribution, but about embodying and practicing knowledge in ways that are responsible and sustainable. Longer term, this project builds toward more advanced practices, including the goal of learning to make ʻōpelu nets. There are very few practitioners who carry this knowledge today. Strengthening foundational skills now is necessary to reach that level with integrity. What will grow is a practice that is lived, shared, and sustained. Not owned, but carried.

To strengthen Tribal food sovereignty by expanding sustainable, year-round food production, growing traditional Indigenous plants, and increasing community access to locally grown foods.

Through this support, I hope to strengthen both my artistic practice and my confidence in claiming space as a Lakota artist working in contemporary digital mediums. One of my primary outcomes is the creation of a body of new digital artwork that reflects Lakota values, symbolism, and storytelling while demonstrating growth in technical skill through graphic design. I also aim to build consistency and discipline in my creative practice, moving from informal, occasional work into a more sustainable and intentional artistic path. Beyond the artwork itself, I hope to strengthen my understanding of art as a form of healing and Indigenous health. As a doctoral student in Indigenous Health, I see creativity as connected to mental, emotional, spiritual, and cultural wellbeing. This project will deepen that connection and allow me to apply what I learn in ways that support both personal and community healing. I plan to share what I learn through both in-person and digital platforms. I will present my work at powwows, community gatherings, and cultural spaces, where I will share not only the finished pieces but also the process of learning, growth, and returning to art later in life. I will also use digital platforms to share images, designs, and storytelling so that community members who may not have access to in-person events can still engage. This includes creating accessible visual content that reflects Lakota identity in contemporary spaces. I hope to reach Indigenous community members, especially younger people and those who may feel disconnected from traditional art forms or unsure of where to begin. By sharing my own journey of learning without formal training, I want to show that there are multiple pathways into cultural expression and that it is never too late to begin. I also hope to connect with other Native artists who are working across traditional and digital mediums, contributing to a broader network of support and collaboration. This project contributes to Indigenous-led knowledge sharing by honoring mentorship, lived experience, and community-based learning as valid and important forms of knowledge. Learning alongside my father and engaging with artists on the powwow trail reflects how knowledge has always been passed—through relationship, observation, and responsibility. By translating these teachings into digital forms and sharing them widely, I am helping to carry forward Lakota ways of knowing in a format that can reach future generations while remaining grounded in culture.