Project
Past Project

TLC Fund: 2023 Campaign

Program Stewarding Native Lands
Woven Lands

The TLC Fund kicked off with the campaign “Knowledge That’s Native,” raising over $1.5 million to support Native-led climate justice and conservation efforts.

The fund was strategically created to amplify Native voices and to give people the opportunity to invest in solutions that lie with the ingenuity of highly resilient peoples who understand the relationship humans have with Earth.

More on why the TLC Fund was created

Since time immemorial, for many Native people there were no words for water pollution or air pollution or deforestation. Native peoples had never seen or caused this kind of damage, and they could not envision disrespecting or damaging Mother Earth, who provides for all living creatures.

But now, every day, there is news of the climate crisis and reports of the devastation to our oceans, forests, and deserts. Words have had to evolve for the catastrophes of global warming, the mass extinction of plants and animals, devastating wildfires and floods, and shrinking forests. And now, Native communities are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, thanks to federal Indian law and policies that have relocated Native communities to places that are most prone to water rise, wildfires, and droughts.

The urgency to find climate solutions cannot be downplayed. First Nations created the TLC Fund because the time to act is NOW. We need to rethink conservation and implement the “new” old ways of protecting our Earth. We need to return to knowledge that’s Native.

How did we deploy support raised through the “Knowledge That’s Native” campaign?

This kick-off campaign resulted in ground-swelling support from First Nations’ donors and allies, further underscoring the need and importance of this work. With the influx of funding, First Nations immediately directed grants to Tribes and Native-led organizations that are developing, leading, and advocating for climate justice and conservation approaches that will protect our lands, waters, and ecosystems for generations and generations to come. See full list below.

This kick-off campaign anchored the TLC Fund as a powerful mechanism of First Nations to highlight the work of our community partners and create a call to action among our supporters. With this footing, the TLC Fund continues to be used to invest in Native community partners and projects that fall our Stewarding Native Lands’ five strategic initiaitves: Climate, Community Pathways, Environmental Sovereignty and Justice, Stewardship, and Woven Lands.

TLC Fund Community Partners: 2023 to present

Native Public Media is working to create a comprehensive framework to enhance public safety and community disaster preparedness and establish a sustainable system for addressing missing, murdered, and endangered persons. Their work aims to build an efficient and responsive system using multi-level mechanisms, community resilience strategies, and a coordinated alert system to improve response speed and effectiveness.

Bishop Paiute Tribe is working to recollect and apply Nüümü plant knowledge, which remains the best foundation for sustainable food, fiber, and medicine systems locally. They will host trainings and workshops to teach community members oral history and plant uses and identification and create a research archive that will help rebuild ecosystem health and implement climate solutions.

Osage Nation is working to expand the Tribe’s apiary, which will expand biodiversity within their buffalo preserve by increasing pollinator habitats and restoring the prairie ecosystem. Community members will have opportunities to participate in apiary trainings to develop their own pollinator habitats.

With this funding the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribe is working to implement a co-stewardship agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on the Waubay National Wildlife Refuge. The Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Natural Resources Department staff will also work with USFWS to identify areas throughout the Wildlife Refuge to serve as sites that Tribal members can steward and harvest culturally important plants in addition to monitoring.

Navajo Nation is working to draft a co-management agreement between the Tribe and the National Park Service (NPS) for the protection of Chaco Canyon Cultural Sites. This co-stewardship agreement will prioritize Native perspectives on cultural resource management. To develop a draft co-management agreement tribal staff will convene a working group of scholars, local representatives, tribal cultural resource employees, and NPS staff to develop culturally appropriate methods for achieving cultural resource protection.

Local Environmental Action Demanded hosted two screenings of the Native-led film “Meet Me at the Creek,” and distributed water filters to community members at these screenings.  This film featured a superfund site and its impact on a tribal community in Oklahoma.

With this funding Chugach Regional Resources Commissions is purchasing the Alutiiq Pride Marine Institute, providing for tribal sovereign jurisdiction. The purchase will make it possible for Chugach Regional Resources Commission to expand the facility and create a coastal resilience plan to protect the region, including the Institute and its water supply, from flooding and coastal erosion caused by climate change.

With this funding Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, a Native-led nonprofit made up of 33 federally recognized Tribes, will continue advancing salmon co-management, research, and monitoring efforts to preserve traditional ways of life. They plan to hold a regional gathering to hold their elections and discuss plans to prioritize and strengthen traditional knowledge, stewardship practices, language, and culture.

With this funding, Pueblo of San Felipe is creating a co-stewardship agreement with the Bureal of Land Management (BLM) for highly culturally sensitive ancestral tribal land within the Pueblo’s exterior boundaries held by the BLM. They plan to build a mutually respectful working relationship between BLM law enforcement, BLM, and the Tribal Historic Preservation Office staff.

With this funding, the Nez Perce Fisheries Department is increasing the knowledge and awareness of its work revitalizing the sacred Pacific lamprey. They plan to provide information to tribal youth through educational trainings and outreach efforts to generate interest in pursuing a career within the fisheries department.

With this funding, Medicine Fish held a community gathering celebrating their relative, Namāēw (sturgeon). This event emphasized tribally-led dam removal efforts, water connectivity, and the vital importance of restoring this cultural keystone species to its ancestral spawning grounds.

With this funding, the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, in conjunction with the Intertribal Timber Council, held the 48th Annual National Indian Timber Symposium. This event was focused on ways to work with agencies and educate youth to become future leaders.

With this funding, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe hosted a youth fishing event at Ghost Hawk Park. The event was centered on intergenerational knowledge transfer and youth mentorship.