Current Issue

March 2022

Dear Friends,

Again, it is an honor for First Nations’ staff and board to share our latest Indian Giver newsletter with you. This spring, we continue making strides to increase philanthropic support for Native communities and invest in the capacity, solutions, and ingenuity of Native peoples. We are humbled by the innovation we see every day from our Community Partners, and we are excited to feature a few of their stories here.

This issue features a profile on one of our 2021 Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellows, as well as highlights from Community Partners, the Malki Museum and the Catawba Nation. Also, this quarter, we pay tribute to our former senior communications officer, Randy Blauvelt, who passed away early this month.

Thank you for reading, and we hope you enjoy this issue.

The March 2022 Indian Giver features:

From Empty Spaces to Community Places  –  Catawba Indian Nation is opening doors to a new Community Resource Center after working diligently to curate and organize a library system, encourage literacy and life-long learning, and address the lack of books written by and for Catawbas and other Native Americans.

The Malki Museum – During the pandemic, the historic Malki Museum, the first museum in California founded by Native Americans, adopted robust COVID-safety measures and messaging to get visitors back to the museum―and used this opportunity to teach the Cahuilla language at the same time.

‘Ačaam (Singing) Together’ – To help bring its community together during the pandemic, the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians (FTBMI) created a musical instruction program taught via Zoom, using traditional musical instruments. It aimed to teach participants the Tribe’s language and culture centered around the seasons.

First Nations Financial Education Continues – First Nations’ in-person financial education training and outreach continues strong into 2022 with the support of the FINRA Investor Education Foundation and First Nations’ financial education consultant Shawn Spruce.

Honoring and Remembering Randy Blauvelt – We are honored to share this tribute to our dear friend and colleague Randy, who served as First Nations’ senior communications officer from 2012 until he retired in 2019.

Plus:

Knowledge Makers, Knowledge Sharers – 2021 Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellow Brooke Niiyogaabawiikwe “Niiyo” Gonzalez (St. Croix Chippewa) is a “language warrior.” In all her professional and academic endeavors, she has made it her mission to help preserve the endangered Ojibwe language.

Together, We Are Shifting the World: Donor Spotlight – The Shift Network is an online transformational learning center that aims to make the world a better place, one enlightened individual at a time. One of Shift’s top philanthropic priorities is helping Indigenous people across the globe heal the wounds caused by the violation of their people and cultures.

Read the full issue here.