This Week at First Nations: August 30, 2024

Restoring Buffalo Across Tribal Homelands: A Visit to Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative 

As part of our American Buffalo Restoration on Tribal Lands in Montana and Wyoming project, First Nations President and CEO Mike Roberts joined the Freeman Foundation and Stewarding Native Lands program staff on a site visit to community partner Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. The visit provided an opportunity to connect with Executive Director Jason Baldes and learn how he is implementing a tribally led and community-based strategy to restore buffalo across the tribal homelands. This site visit highlighted the importance of supporting tribally led buffalo initiatives that will ensure traditional knowledge and community health are restored alongside the buffalo.

First Nations’ Richard Elm-Hill Announced as Vice Chair of SAFSF

First Nations is happy to share that Richard Elm-Hill (Oneida), Senior Program Officer of our Native Agriculture and Food Systems Investments program, is stepping into the Vice Chair role of the Board of Directors of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders. A long-time partner of First Nations, SAFSF amplifies the impact of philanthropic and investment communities in support of just and sustainable food and agriculture systems. Congratulations, Richard, for taking on this leadership position and helping raise awareness and support for Native food economies. 

Office Hours for Tribal Access to Emerging Private Markets for Forest Resilience or Climate Mitigation Grant Opportunity

First Nations, in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Indian Carbon Coalition, will co-host open office hours for tribes and Native-led non-profits interested in the Tribal Access to Emerging Private Markets for Forest Resilience or Climate Mitigation grant opportunity offered by the U.S. Forest Service. The webinar provides an interactive platform to address questions and receive helpful tips. In addition, First Nations will share opportunities to receive direct technical assistance or a capacity-building grant to support tribal applications.

The Office Hours are on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, at 1 pm MT. Register here.

Webinar Next Week: The Sovereign-to-Sovereign Agreements Database: A Resource to Grow the Field of Tribal Co-Management

In this first installment of First Nations’ Tribal Co-Stewardship and Co-Management Webinar Series, Native American Rights Fund (NARF) fellow Noah Lee (Ho-Chunk Nation) will provide an overview of the Sovereign-to-Sovereign Cooperative Agreements Repository. The goal of this database is to effectively consolidate a large variety of tribal co-stewardship and co-management resources to better support tribal interests in these opportunities.

The webinar is on Thursday, September 5, 2024, 1 pm MT. Register here.

REMINDER: Register Now for How to Map for Land Return

As part of our Fortifying Our Forests project, First Nations is presenting a hands-on webinar about funding opportunities for land return, restoration, and management objectives. The webinar will walk through what to expect when applying for the U.S.  Forest Service’s Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program, what’s needed to make a robust application, and how to use geospatial data to determine eligibility and changes in landscapes of interest.

The webinar is on Thursday, September 12, 2024, at 1 pm MT. Register here.

Apply Now for the Northern Great Plains Young Natural Resource Professionals Cohort

First Nations is launching a Young Natural Resource Professionals Cohort to encourage peer-to-peer learning, foster leadership skills, and enhance technical knowledge. The first cohort is open to 15 young tribal natural resource professionals in the Northern Great Plains. The cohort includes a $50,000 tribal grant to lead a conservation-focused project.

Learn more and apply here by September 12, 2024. 

Apply Now for Promoting Tribal Co-Stewardship for Grasslands Health

First Nations is now accepting applications under our Stewarding Native Lands program to support the development of tribal co-stewardship agreements on National grasslands. First Nations expects to award six grants of up to $125,000 each to tribes located in the Northern Great Plains.

Learn more and apply here by September 16, 2024.

Meet 2023 Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellow Kathy Wan Povi Sanchez

Kathy Wan Povi (Tewa for “Pine Flower”) Sanchez, 74, is a fourth-generation blackware potter from the Pueblo de San Ildefonso. She is a founding member of Tewa Women United, a multicultural organization that helps women from Tewa homelands “reclaim their power” and cope with grief and loss, domestic violence, suicide, and other issues. Sanchez leads trainings using the “Two-World Harmony-Butterfly Model” and “Trauma Healing Rocks,” tools she invented through dreams. “I envision using these tools to move people’s hearts back into a beloved community, leading to a transformative change of damaged soul woundings.”

Read about Elder Kathy’s work as a potter, social activist, and community organizer.