Current Issue

June 2022

Highlights from First Nations, Gratitude for You

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the latest edition of Indian Giver, First Nations’ quarterly newsletter. As summer heats up, our Community Partners are making important, positive impacts in Indian Country and we are excited to share some of their amazing stories here.

This issue features a profile on one of our 2021 Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellows, as well as highlights from Community Partners, Hunkpati Processors and the Hawaiian immersion school Ke Kula ʻo Piʻilani. Also, good news! First Nations’ popular financial skills-building program “$pending Frenzy” is back on the road doing in-person workshops.

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

The June 2022 Indian Giver features:

Ke Kula ‘o Pi’ilani: A One-of-a-Kind Hawaiian Immersion School ─ In 2016, three couples in Maui, Hawaii, founded the only private, independent, and nonprofit Hawaiian language and culture immersion school in the world, Ke Kula ʻo Piʻilani. Children learn Hawaiian language by doing cultural activities centered around the four curriculum themes of water, heavens, land, and ocean.

Hunkpati Processors ─ To help tribal members, particularly elders, gain better access to high-quality beef and buffalo year-round, the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe built a brand-new, 2,600-square-foot meat processing plant on the existing Crow Creek Tribal Ranch. This facility can fully process up to 30 buffalo or cows a day, all the way through packaging.

‘$pending Frenzy’ Returns ─ After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, First Nations’ popular financial skills program for teens and young adults called “Spending Frenzy” has resumed in-person events. First stop: Central High School in Gallup, New Mexico, where students learned about the importance of financial planning. BONUS: The new “$pending Frenzy” app!

Plus:

Knowledge Makers, Knowledge Sharers – 2021 Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellow Theresa Secord is an award-winning Wabanaki basketmaker and founder of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance (MIBA). Theresa incorporates Passamaquoddy/Maliseet language lessons into her basketmaking workshops to help preserve the language.

Rooted in Philanthropy: Donor Spotlight ─ Emery Golson is a 31-year-old philanthropist, herbalist, wife, and mother of two who started the Tumbleweed Fund with her husband to grow trust-based philanthropy in Colorado. She also sits on the board of her family’s philanthropic organization, the Sunderland Foundation.

Read the full issue here.