Tribes receive first round of grants from Seeds of Native Health


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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