This Week at First Nations: September 23, 2022
Oweesta President and CEO Earns Heinz Award for the Economy
First Nations is excited to share that Chrystel A. Cornelius, president and CEO of First Nations’ community partner Oweesta Corporation, has been named a recipient of the 27th Heinz Award for the Economy. The Heinz Awards honor individuals whose work and accomplishments are producing an impact that endures, and Chrystel was recognized for her career in working to return wealth and financial independence to Native communities, including at Oweesta, which has provided more than $60 million in loans and other investments to more than 8,500 Native individuals. Congratulations, Chrystel!
First Nations’ COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Continues
Additional rounds of support through First Nations’ COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund were announced this week, with $422,500 in grants directed at 42 organizations. With the total amount distributed through this fund at more than $6.6 million, it is hoped this support can help address the disproportionate toll the pandemic has taken on Native Americans. Native organizations that continue to experience the impact of COVID-19 are encouraged to contact First Nations at grantmaking@firstnations.org.
Thankful for the Thanks from Camp Laugh a Lot
One of First Nations’ recent recipients of COVID-19 Emergency Response funding is Camp Laugh A Lot, in Custer, South Dakota, which used the support to complete two summer camp sessions for Lakota children. We were honored to receive the camp’s Kindness Counts Award, 2022, along with a word of thanks for bringing “smiles to many children’s faces.” We thank Camp Laugh a Lot for the kind award and for their service to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and we are grateful for the many generous donors and funders who have made First Nations’ COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund possible.
Coons Wins Awards at Santa Fe Indian Market
At this year’s Santa Fe Indian Market, the largest juried Native American art show in the world, First Nations’ artist friend Gordon Coons won awards from the Southwestern Association of American Indian Art. Gordon received Best of Div. D: Print-making for Washita 1868: Remember Our Relatives, which took first place, and Native Landscape Under the New Moon, which took second place. On the way back to Minneapolis, Gordon stopped by First Nations to say hello. Congratulations, Gordon!
ICWA Updates: Brief Filed, Support Still Needed
First Nations continues to urge people to pledge support for the Indian Child Welfare Act. We also share this update from the National Indian Child Welfare Association, which highlights the 21 pro-ICWA briefs that came from Native and non-Native groups and included almost every conceivable group that might have expertise or experience related to child welfare. As the oral argument November 9 before the Supreme Court draws closer, we join NICWA in encouraging people to follow the Protect ICWA Campaign at @protecticwa on Twitter and Instagram, and see the latest updates in the Child and Family Policy Update.
REMINDER: Funder Opportunity to Learn from SAFSF Indigenous Food Systems Community of Practice
On October 4, 2022, at 12:30 pm MT, food systems funders are invited to join 2021-2022 Indigenous Food Systems Community of Practice members as they share their experience on how to increase investment in Indian Country. Key takeaways and personal and professional experiences will be shared, creating an opportunity for funders to talk about how to be a better ally for Native communities.
Funders: Learn more and register here.
Reminder: Apply Now for Food & Agriculture Scholarship
To encourage more Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian college students to enter agriculture and food systems fields so that they can better assist their communities with food systems efforts, First Nations will award 20 to 25 $1,000 to $1,500 scholarships to Native college students majoring in agriculture and agriculture-related fields. The application window for scholarships for the 2022-2023 academic year is now open. Apply here by October 18, 2022.
Congress Told Colleges to Return Native Remains. What’s Taking So Long?
The University of North Dakota is the latest U.S. college to acknowledge keeping Indigenous bones and artifacts, reports The New York Times. The university recently began the process of returning artifacts and the remains of Native American people to tribes, 30 years after Congress passed a law requiring colleges and museums to return Native remains and artifacts in their possession. The article shares how many institutions have dragged out the process, questioning tribes’ links to artifacts and, in some cases, disputing whether items should be returned. Read more.
Photo credit Jaida Grey Eagle for The New York Times
U.S. Changes Names of Places With Racist Term For Native Women
HuffPost reports that the U.S. government has renamed hundreds of places that carry a racist and misogynistic term. In all, nearly 650 peaks, lakes, streams, and other geographical features on federal lands bearing the “Sq__” name have been renamed. The changes are the result of a yearlong process that began after U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland took office. Read more.
Photo credit Rachel Leathe/Bozeman Daily Chronicle Via AP, File
Rep. Mary Peltola’s Election to the U.S. House of Representatives Makes History
This week, NPR shares how the swearing in of Rep. Mary Peltola marks the first time in more than 230 years that a Native American, an Alaska Native, and a Native Hawaiian are all members of the U.S. House of Representatives, fully representing the United States’ Indigenous people for the first time. Including Reps. Peltola, Kahele, and Davids, there are now six Indigenous Americans in the House.
Read more about this historic occurrence.
Photo credit Kaiali‘i Kahele, Twitter
