Awarded Grants

The ultimate purpose of the project is to 1) retain the Euchee language as the key to our unique worldview and culture as Euchee people, by teaching it to children and youth, 2) utilize the vast knowledge and wisdom of the last 4 elders who grew up speaking Yuchi as their first language and learned to live off the land through agriculture, 3) increase participation and knowledge of traditional agricultural practices among children and youth through hands-on teaching and learning, and 4) create leadership opportunities for youth and develop their fundraising and business management skills

Preserving Dakota Pathways is about 1) creating partnerships between the youth, community and cultural resources for the purpose of retaining our Dakota culture, and 2) empowering our tribal elders to convey teachings and customs that speak to our identity as an indigenous nation. Additionally, this partnership will introduce an educational component that allows First Nations Development Institute and Dakota Indian Foundation a basis for leveraging additional resources through donor education.

The ultimate purpose of this project is to: 1)stimulate and nourish the dormant traditional bond between Lumbee Elders and youth, 2) retain the wisdom of the Lumbee Elders and protect the cultural values, heritage, and traditions, 3) utilize Apple Technology to document and preserve cultural and medicinal herbal history, 4) increase the knowledge, nutrition, and physical wellbeing of Lumbee Elders and Youth.

The ultimate purpose of this program is to end sexual violence and grow personal and community wellness/wholeness by engaging Native people across the lifespan, especially Native youth, in prevention work by learning and retaining our traditional life-ways. As we utilize and honor the unique lens that our Native youth see the world through, we can better leverage their contributions as we add those visions to the full scope of work that MIWSAC does to end and prevent sexual violence in Indian Country.

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.