Youth from Zuni Pueblo participate in the Zuni Youth Enrichment Project. Photo from Facebook
Fifteen tribes, tribal organizations and non-profits have received the first round of grants from the new Seeds of Native Health initiative. The $523,000 in grants will be used to improve nutrition across Indian Country. They are the result of a program funded by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Minnesota. “Native American nutrition problems have many causes, but we know that good health starts with good nutrition,” Secretary/Treasurer Lori Watso said in announcing the grant program. Recipients include the Seneca Diabetes Foundation, a non-profit that promotes diabetes research and health and wellness programs on the Seneca Nation of New York. The $32,040 grant will be used to restore white corn crops on the reservation. The Zuni Youth Enrichment Project, a non-profit serving Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico, received $40,000. The money will be used to promote small-scale agriculture, improve the local food system and build an outdoor learning space and farmers’ market area on the reservation.
Left to right: First Nations Development Institute President Michael Roberts; SMSC Secretary/Treasurer Lori Watso; Dean Brian Buhr, University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences; SMSC Vice-Chairman Keith Anderson; Notah Begay III Foundation Founder Notah Begay; Notah Begay III Foundation Executive Director Justin Huenemann. Photo from SMSC
The First Nations Development Institute has partnered with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community for the $5 million initiative. The other partner is the Notah Begay III Foundation. The full list of grantees follows:
1. Bishop Paiute Tribe, Bishop, California, $40,000
2. Igiugig Village, Igiugig, Alaska, $39,794
3. Intertribal Agriculture Council, Billings, Montana, $17,887
4. Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Cass Lake, Minnesota, $33,743
5. Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, Montana, $40,000
6. Mvskoke Food Sovereignty Initiative, Okmulgee, Oklahoma, $40,000
7. Nez Perce Tribe, Lapwai, Idaho, $37,629
8. North Leupp Family Farms, Leupp, Arizona, $34,650
9. Painted Desert Demonstration Project, DBA the STAR School, Flagstaff, Arizona, $40,000
10. Pueblo of Nambé, Santa Fe, New Mexico, $37,404
11. Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Red Lake, Minnesota, $39,171
12. Seneca Diabetes Foundation, Irving, New York, $32,040
13. The Suquamish Tribe, Suquamish, Washington, $28,773
14. Zuni Youth Enrichment Project, Zuni, New Mexico, $40,000
15. Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation, Porcupine, South Dakota, $21,909
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Editorial: Shakopee Tribe contributes $5M for health initiative
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