Nanitin Adeeshtłʼóół Weaving Strands of Knowledge: Native Arts and Culture Grant
2023 – 2026
About The Program
The American Indian College Fund’s Nanitin Adeeshtłʼóół Weaving Strands of Knowledge: Native Arts and Culture Grant Program supports TCUs in carrying out their cultural and community missions by providing place-based, culturally grounded learning opportunities in traditional and contemporary Native arts knowledge and skills for students, staff, faculty, and community members that will make an impact for future generations. TCUs provide Native arts programming based in place, traditional knowledge, language, culture, and community teachings to ensure that Native arts reach the communities they serve. TCUs have a responsibility as tribal and community learning institutions to provide resources and develop a new generation of Native artists, culture bearers, and knowledge teachers.
Goals of the program include:
- TCUs contribute to the advancement and innovation of Native arts by utilizing TCU Native Arts Curriculum and Credential Development Grants to increase academic learning opportunities.
- TCUs support visibility and health and thriving Native communities through community-based capacity-building programming.
- Supporting visibility and awareness for two-spirit and LQBTQ+ students, high school equivalency students and their families, elders, students and community members with disabilities, and student veterans and their families.
- Providing a supportive and respectful environment for wellness and mental health through Native arts as a form of healing, self-care, and expression.
- Guidance and feedback from cultural knowledge teachers and consultants to support the development and implementation of Native arts community workshops
Program Gallery
Grantees
Native Arts Curriculum Development Grants:
Aaniiih Nakoda College (Ft. Belknap)
Bay Mills Community College
Blackfeet Community College
College of Menominee Nation
College of the Muscogee Nation
Diné College
Fort Peck Community College
Haskell Indian Nations University
Iḷisaġvik College
Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University
Little Big Horn College
Little Priest Tribal College
Navajo Technical University
Northwest Indian College
Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College
Red Lake Nation College
Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College
Salish Kootenai College
Sinte Gleska University
Sisseton Wahpeton College
Sitting Bull College
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
Stone Child College
Tohono O'odham Community College
United Tribes Technical College
White Earth Tribal and Community College
Related Blogs
SIPI Drawing Workshop Taps into Native Philosophies of Awareness in Art, Native Identity, Sacredness, and Value
The warm smell of burning firewood wafted around us as we stepped out of the car. The cool still morning and chirping birds greeted us as we entered the building of the Ancestral Rich Treasures of Zuni (ARTZ) which houses silver and turquoise jewelry and is adorned with colorful paintings all created by Zuni artists.
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.
