Native Arts
Supporting Native Arts, Languages, And Cultures
American Indian communities face the risk of losing traditional arts, tribal languages, and cultural knowledge.
Strong Native communities are built on tribal languages, cultural knowledge, and traditional arts. With many communities facing the risk of loss of language, culture, and traditional arts, we provide grants and support for communities to restore, sustain, and pass on traditional knowledge.
Native Arts Enrichment and Expansion
Active Program Dates: 2020 – 2023
The Native Arts Enrichment and Expansion program purposes to enrich, enhance, and expand traditional and contemporary Native arts knowledge and skills at tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) and the communities that they serve.
High School Equivalency Community Building Grant in Native Arts
Active Program Dates: 2022 – 2023
The High School Equivalency Community Building Grant in Native Arts was a pilot program that supported TCU grantee partners to incorporate Native culture into their high school equivalency (HSE) programming through implementation of Native Arts community workshops hosted by their HSE programs and students. The purpose of the program was to encourage HSE student and alumni engagement in community building and support the transfer of intergenerational knowledge and skill.
Restoration and Preservation of Traditional Native Art Forms and Knowledge
Active Program Dates: 2013 – 2020
The American Indian College Fund has created a re-granting opportunity for Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) to enhance the capacity of traditional Native art forms and knowledge at participating TCUs in the upper-Midwest.
National Endowment for the Humanities Grant
Active Program Dates: 1997 – Ongoing
The College Fund was awarded the Challenge Grant in 1993 by the National Endowment for the Humanities which led to the establishment of the NEH Cultural Preservation Endowment Program. The NEH Cultural Preservation Endowment supports cultural preservation and revitalization efforts for all 35 TCUs.
The Anheuser Busch Foundation Cultural Preservation Grant
Active Program Dates: 2014 – 2017
The Anheuser Busch Foundation Cultural Foundation Preservation Grant program was introduced in early 2014 and provides one-time annual awards to a selected tribal college or university (TCU) for the purpose of supporting cultural preservation.
Related Blogs
A Time for Change and Innovation – Native Arts and Distance Learning
Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) transitioned from holding in-person classes and community events to closing their campuses, instead offering academic courses online or through distance learning. Community programming and events were canceled or postponed, greatly impacting TCUs, students, and the communities they serve.
To help TCUs during the transition, seven TCUs were awarded Distance Learning Grants. Each had a different approach on how they would continue to provide Native Arts programming while keeping their students and community members safe. Each explored how they were going to bring people together while keeping them safely apart.
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College Hosts Native Arts Workshops Based in Place
In the fall of 2017, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College (FDLTCC) hosted a series of traditional Native Arts workshops that relied heavily on the surrounding environment for source materials to help produce a woven cedar mat. Using local resources and materials to create and revitalize traditional Native art forms is the essence of place-based education in the arts.
Connecting, Learning and Growing: Native Arts Convening
The American Indian College Fund (the College Fund) hosted a Native Arts convening in Seattle, Washington in September, 2018. Seven program Administrators of the Restoration and Preservation of Traditional Native Art Forms and Knowledge Grant participated in the Native Arts convening from the College of Menominee Nation, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College, Leech Lake Tribal College, Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College, Sisseton Wahpeton College, Sitting Bull College and United Tribes Technical College.
Place-Based Learning as a Framework for Building Native Student Success
This is a collaborative series developed by the College Fund’s Environmental Sustainability, Native Arts and Early Childhood Education program initiatives. This is the first blog of a six-part series focused on place-based education.
