Awarded Grants

Our ultimate purpose includes 1) developing the Brave Girls program as a model to share with local tribal communities and tribal schools, 2) institutionalize and grow the Brave Girls program in order to develop a full service girls resource center, 3) increase the number of participants, 4)create and builda consciousness about native community issues from the perspective of a female, 5) creating and maintain, and utilize a system of support by networking with tribal communities, community leaders, community care givers, and professionals in various fields, and 6) create and retain a very important intergenerational system of mentorship.

The purpose of this project is 1) to create opportunity for youth to retain the endangered Menominee language, 2) to increase youth familiarity of the language as it identifies them, culturally and spiritually, as Menominee, and 3) to utilize our Elders that are fluent in the language as teachers and facilitators of fun and meaningful activities for youth. Further, this project will leverage/expand outreach efforts to the youth and members of the community, such as project volunteers, resulting in a core base of volunteers committed to sustaining this effort in the future (e.g., planning and decision-making, fundraising, implementation).

The ultimate purpose of creating the Dine' Iina (Life) and Naatani (Leadership) Academy will 1) instill and guide Dine' youth to value their heritage and oral traditions as an irreplaceable asset while 2) building their social and leadership skills within supportive mentoring curricula so that; 3) Dine' youth will retain their cultural knowledge through writing or digital storytelling and; 4) this successful Academy offers a replicable model for future years to reduce risk behaviors through revitalizing Dine' values. This project by Miss Navajos is a first and will sustain and leverage future activities to strengthen Dine' life.

The ultimate purpose of this project will be to retain a crucial and sacred ceremony that is still prevalent among the Lakota, Dakota tribal nations. The Isna Ti (female rite of passage) seeks to instill in young girls an understanding of healthy behaviors, the interrelationship of mental, social and physical health and well-being during their adolescent stages and into adult womanhood. The recipients of this cultural and life skills knowledge will experience the oral traditions of past and present of many knowledgeable Lakota and Nakota women who understand the virtues and beliefs of life's journey.

The ultimate purpose is to retain trial culture and traditions for future generations and decrease the number of youth and families that struggle with addition and family violence by creating Fit to Paddle. We will utilize traditional teachings and mentoring of the Canoe to increase the mental, spiritual and physical health of participants.

The ultimate purpose of this project is to: 1) create a greenhouse that is certified and capable of growing vegetables throughout the cold weather months for the school lunch program; and 2) significantly increase the amount of locally and organically grown vegetables that are served to students in the school lunch program; and 3) create a manual that will show other reservation schools how to do something similar in their own schools. Finally, it is our goal to produce a documentary short film by students showing how students are involved in growing their won food throughout the winter.