This Week at First Nations: June 13, 2025
Congratulations to CRRC on the Alutiiq Pride Marine Institute Purchase
Chugach Regional Resources Commission has announced the purchase of a hatchery and connected facilities, expanding the scope and impact of the organization’s Alutiiq Pride Marine Institute in Seward, Alaska. The acquisition has been a long-standing goal of CRRC, which serves the region’s seven Tribal communities. CRRC will continue advancing efforts to promote habitat restoration, species stock, mariculture, and ocean monitoring. Congratulations, CRRC!
The CRRC purchase was supported in part through a grant from First Nations’ Tribal Lands Conservation Fund.
Learn More About Tribal Conservation Easements
Conservation easements are well-established and a common tool in the United States to protect conservation values on private lands. Yet these structures are not sufficiently designed to protect Tribal Sovereignty and interests tied to land.
This webinar will explore the concept of property easements, how conservation easements are being used in “land back” arrangements, and how “rights of nature” easements are being used in creative new land ownership arrangements.
Anyone interested in learning more about land easements, and how land easements can protect certain cultural and environmental uses of the land are encouraged to attend.
The webinar will be Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at 11 am Mountain Time. Register here.
Tribes and Native-serving nonprofits looking for more information on conservation easement opportunities: Learn more about our Advancing Tribal Conservation Easements Grant. (See below!)
Support Apache Stronghold’s Case to Protect Oak Flat
For over two decades, Apache Stronghold has been working to protect Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, also known as Oak Flat. After years of litigation to protect the sacred site from copper mining, on May 27, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its declination to hear Apache Stronghold’s case, which violates Native American rights to religious freedom (as explained in a dissent by Justice Gorsuch).
Apache Stronghold’s decades-long fight to protect Chi’chil Biłdagoteel continues as a federal court in Arizona ruled that the land transfer cannot proceed until at least 60 days after the Environmental Impact Statement for the mine has been published.
Read Apache Stronghold’s recent letter to the current administration here, and learn how to support their effort here.
Apache Stronghold has been a First Nations community partner since 2021 through the Stewarding Native Lands’ Environmental Sovereignty and Justice Initiative. Over the past year, their work has centered on community education and outreach, cultural gatherings, and advocacy. Read First Nations’ Impact Story about Apache Stronghold here.
Join Our Team: First Nations is Hiring
First Nations is building capacity to best serve our partners in Native communities. We offer a dynamic culture based on trust, respect, and ongoing career development. Learn more about the following positions and apply.
* Individual Giving Communications and Events Associate
* Senior Database Management Officer
* Senior Human Resource Officer
* Information Technology Associate Director
Slash and Burn: Trump Cuts Open Up More Funding Gaps in Native American Education
Inside Philanthropy explores the impact of recent – and anticipated – budget cuts in Native American education. Native leaders from National Indian Education Association, American Indian College Fund, AISES, Native Forward Scholars Fund, and others talk about the impact on Native students, extending from Head Start programs, to Pell Grants for college tuition. First Nations’ President and CEO Mike Roberts (Tlingit) joined in the call for increased support from philanthropy. “If you could get 20 foundations to step up with a million dollars each to keep Tribal colleges alive for a year – that would be an awesome lifeboat,” he said.
REMINDER: Join Us June 17 for ‘Beyond the Label: Tribal Insights into Organic Practices and Certification’
As part of our focus on uplifting Native Food Sovereignty, First Nations will present a new webinar series that explores the relationships between Tribal agricultural producers and organic certification systems. The first session shares initial findings from a Tribal Organic Research Project on why Tribal producers pursue – or often choose not to pursue – organic certification. We’ll also discuss how Native values, traditional ecological knowledge, and Tribal Sovereignty intersect with federal organic standards.
Tribal producers, researchers, policymakers, extension professionals, and anyone interested in supporting Native food systems with integrity and respect are invited to attend.
The webinar will be Tuesday, June 17, 2025, at 12 pm Mountain Time. Learn more and register here.
REMINDER: Upcoming Native Farm to School Webinar
In the second of our two-part webinar series exploring how Native communities are advancing food sovereignty through education and policy, participants will gain a broader policy view, examining the historical impact of federal Indian policy and how it can be leveraged to reclaim food systems and empower future generations. Join us for Native Farm to School Policy Report — Leveraging Policy for Native Food Sovereignty, Education, and Empowerment, Tuesday, June 17, 2025, 11 am to 12 pm Mountain Time — Register here!
Miss Webinar 1 of the series? Access the materials and recording here.
New Opportunity: One-Year Native Farmer Professional Cohort
First Nations’ new Native Farmer Professional Cohort aims to strengthen the farming and land stewardship skills of 12 beginning Native farmers and support them in accessing resources from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA NRCS). Through the year-long enrichment program, participants will receive training and networking opportunities, with a focus on improving soil health, water quality, local food systems, and land stewardship in alignment with Native values.
The cohort launches August 4, 2025. Beginning Native farmers with less than 10 years of experience: Learn more and apply here by Friday, July 18, 2025. Note: This application is housed on First Nations’ project management system and not on Fluxx.
DEADLINE EXTENDED: Advancing Tribal Conservation Easements Grant Opportunity
As part of the new Woven Lands Initiative, First Nations’ Stewarding Native Lands program is now accepting applications for the Advancing Tribal Conservation Easements grant opportunity. First Nations will provide grants of up to $50,000, in addition to technical assistance, trainings, and networking opportunities, to six Tribes pursuing conservation easements on private lands or conservation equivalents on trust lands. Learn more about the grant and apply here by June 26, 2025.
Learn more about conservation easements and equivalents in this additional webinar: Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at 11 am Mountain Time. (See more details above.) Register here.
Application Now Open for Native Agriculture and Food Systems Scholarships
First Nations’ Native Agriculture and Food Systems Investments (NAFSI) Scholarship program supports Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian college students to ultimately better assist their communities with their food systems efforts. Again this year, First Nations will award 20 to 25 scholarships in the amount of $1,000 to $1,500 for the 2025-2026 academic school year to Native college or university students majoring in agriculture and agriculture-related fields. Apply here by July 11, 2025.