To Our Resiliency Fund Grantee Partners–Keep Sending Us Your Dreams.

To Our Resiliency Fund Grantee Partners–Keep Sending Us Your Dreams. When we opened up the Resiliency Fund on June 21, we asked you to bring us your hopes and plans for the future. We asked you to dream with us. After more than a year of COVID-19 social distancing and lockdowns, we wanted to know about your visions for moving forward and strengthening Indigenous lifeways across generations and communities. We also wanted to learn more about the needs in your communities—because we trust you to know them best. The Resiliency Fund is open to applicants in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Grants are available to Tribal departments and organizations for both programs and general operations; and to individual Native artists,

Indigenous Weaver, Ace Baker Sr.

Indigenous Weaver, Ace Baker Sr. Mt. Vernon, WashingtonA Resiliency Fund Grantee Partner It was during a Canoe Journey to Puyallup three years ago that Ace Baker Sr. first thought about making himself a cedar hat. Baker and his family were camped in a spot away from where the main ceremonies were being held, and it was hot and dusty. He saw people walking around with cedar hats on, protecting them from the sun. Fortunately, he and his family were traveling at the time with their friend Aurelia Bailey, the cultural events coordinator for the Swinomish Tribal Community.  Baker asked her if she would teach him to make a hat. “That knowledge was passed down to her—that line of knowledge goes

The Young Warrior Society

The Young Warrior Society Nespelem, WashingtonA Resiliency Fund Grantee Partner It was going to be a year of program expansion, of dreams coming to fruition, of increasing visibility in the community and beyond. A worldwide pandemic had other plans. Since 2018, Tem Xwu lough First Food and Families—located on the Colville Indian Reservation, in the town of Nespelem, Wash.—has been building connections and conducting education workshops in the community in order to pass critical cultural knowledge and skills to the next generation. One of its programs, the Young Warrior Society, regularly attracted youth from all over North Central Washington to its programs and activities, as well as up to 40 volunteers. At the center of activities for the organization were

Potlatch Fund and the Future of Philanthropy

Potlatch Fund and the Future of Philanthropy Something exciting happened to philanthropy last year because of COVID-19. Across the country, a number of prominent, large foundations began publicly adopting the tenets of trust-based philanthropy and community-based philanthropy, guided by the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion. Partly they did this in order to get emergency funding quickly to community organizations “on the ground” that were responding to the many crises brought on or worsened by the pandemic. In trust-based philanthropy, the power dynamics between funders and grantee partners shift and have the potential to transform relationships. The result is a process that’s more personal and less transactional, more trusting and less suspicious, and more about sharing power than maintaining the

Nimiipuu Nurtures Emerging Environmental Leaders

Nimiipuu Nurtures Emerging Environmental Leaders Lapwai, IdahoA Potlatch Fund Grantee Partner When the Nimiipuu launched the canoe they’d built on the Snake River in 2017, it was the first tribal canoe on their ancestral waters in 113 years. More widely known as the Nez Perce Tribe of Lapwai, Idaho, the Nimiipuu have long been active stewards of their traditional homelands, working to protect the health of the environment by sponsoring educational summits and workshops, partnering with other environmental organizations, and advocating for the removal of the four lower Snake River dams. Building and launching a tribal canoe was a natural continuation of this mission, entwined with the vision of a free-flowing river and access to traditional lands for fishing, hunting

Grant Partner Spotlight: Marlene R. Simla

Checking in with Yakama Tribal elder, MARLENE R. SIMLA At Potlatch Fund, the hard realities of the pandemic remind us of how important it is to support our culture keepers, many of whom are elders, not only with funding but also with care and attention. We decided to check in with a few of our elder grant partners, to see how they’re doing during the pandemic. While we are well aware of the ongoing challenges of COVID-19, we also pause to acknowledge with deep respect the resiliency of our Native relatives. We are pleased to introduce respected storyteller and elder Marlene R. Simla (Yakama) of Toppenish, Washington. Marlene is an enrolled member of the Yakama Nation, born and raised on

Native Professionals Night: Healing With Our Elders

Native Professionals Night: Healing With Our Elders A Potlatch Fund One Fire Storytellers Series with Special Guests Glen and Yvette Pinkham Register here: https://bit.ly/2OeavCQ This event is on Zoom and the Zoom link will be sent out prior to the event. We invite our community to Native Professionals Night – Healing With Our Elders with Glen and Yvette Pinkham. As the one-year anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic comes into view, Potlatch Fund presents a community event for Native professionals to come together in a healing way. With COVID-19 creating so many barriers to coming together, we recognize the need to visit with elders and each other in a cultural and spiritual way. Join us for this hour and

2021 Grants – Upcoming grant opportunities are soon to be announced.

2021 Grants – Upcoming grant opportunities are soon to be announced. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic Potlatch Fund is continuing to find new ways to safeguard our community’s culture keepers. Many of our regular grant programs are closed in lieu of emergency Covid-19 grants. To hear about our upcoming, soon to be announced grants focused on helping Native communities during the COVID-19 pandemic follow our social feeds and emails below. Social accounts: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PotlatchFund Twitter: https://twitter.com/PotlatchFund Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/potlatchfund/ Email/newsletter signup form: Facebook: https://www.potlatchfund.org/contact/ (Scroll to the bottom of the page)