Awarded Grants

Our purpose is to create a food processing station at the Smokehouse & Community Garden site at Lapwai, Idaho, central to the Nez Perce nation. The station will stimulate efforts in local food production and improved tribal community health by serving as a vibrant, user-friendly center for cleaning fish, smoking meat and fish, processing produce, cooking demonstrations, and classes on nutrition and traditional uses of native foods. The project will benefit tribal members with opportunities for increased self enrichment and community engagement by providing a place for multi-generational sharing and learning, community gathering around food culture, and agriculture-based entrepreneurial development.

The ultimate purpose of this project is to create and increase new levels of understanding in the rich traditional arts of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. The artistic renewal and preservation of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa art will be utilized as a new format to teach the youth and community members the utmost importance in retaining their heritage and culture of their tribe through art. Educational materials pertaining to the project will be available to the community, as a way to keep everyone informed and involved with the mission of Turtle Mountain Tribal Arts Association.

The ultimate goal of this project is to bring back and instill Lakota cultural values for our modern day youth, and for future generations. We will be passing on the knowledge. All of these activities utilize our lakota 7 sacred values; Prayer, Respect, Caring and Compassion, Honesty and Truth, Generosity and Caring, Humility, and Wisdom. In each objective all of these traits will be taught. In the process of learning and assessment the students involved with this program will have this knowledge for future generations.

We will create a structure of collaboration and support for all First Nations' people to flourish.

The ultimate purpose is to create a program and environment that forges and fosters inter-generational transfer of existing traditional knowledge as well as modern knowledge, while retaining and revitalizing our communities expression of the Seven Anishinaabe values. This project will increase opportunity and inclination to put our values into action, heal relationships and nurture mutual respect across generations. It will create resiliency in our youth increasing their ability to make healthy choices in life.

The ultimate purpose is to 1) leverage existing capacity within the RL Entrepreneur and Ozhiitaa Asset Building Programs, to create high quality arts industry specific seminars and coaching, 2) increase access to markets for RL artists by retaining and expanding upon the momentum of past arts festivals and sales events, 3) utilize new staffing positions to develop art specific events, and 4) further develop an existing artist cooperative to provide essential business building tools, and maintain long term engagement with artists through networking and leadership roles both of which are key to the overall use and acceptance of the model.

The ultimate purpose is to educate, empower, and work on positive youth development in order to prevent at risk activities youth have available to them now and in the future. The tools and skills gained will help the young women make positive decisions, avoid risky adolescent behaviors and promote an overall well-being as it relates to the girls development including physical, emotional, mental and social well-being. These will all help the young women set and attain goals while in high school and past high school in order to lead successful lives and help them be contributing members.

The ultimate purpose is to 1.) utilize the Pueblo's resources of staff, teen volunteers and an existing basketball/tennis court that has been in the community for over 20-years to 2.) create an outdoor space for healing and self-expression that is cared for by the youth and other tribal member users. Further, this project will 3.) increase community participation and engagement throughout the year long renewal project. In the long term, it will increase community awareness and accountability for a shared space that is safe for all ages to access and enjoy.

The purpose of this project is to launch a Northwest Native Plants and Foods Collective track focused on increasing youth participation in the innovation of sustainable cultural food systems. We aim to leverage youth as knowledge keepers of holistic wellness approaches for future tribal generations. Through educational community workshops, we will work with urban and rural tribal youth as part of a regional community of people sharing traditional plants and foods best practices and advocating for tribal food sovereignty. The project will also utilize a youth cadre of representatives in NNPFC strategic planning and a social media dissemination campaign.

The purpose of the Kahua Waiwai Alaka`i Internship Program is to 1) create and institutionalize a multi-generational internship opportunity, 2) increase youth interns financial knowledge and retention by providing them an opportunity to teach culturally relevant financial literacy, and 3) leverage community partnerships to bring youth, children, parents and community organizations together to further an open dialogue around economic self-sufficiency and personal finance in the native hawaiian community.