December 2019

 To find out more: visit tiwahefoundation.org

The Family Empowerment Program supports an individual or family in pursuit of professional, educational, or cultural opportunities. Grants range from $500 to $2,500. Impact areas include Culture, Education, Economic Independence, and Health & Wellness.

The Oyate Network Project Grant is for alumni of our Leadership Program. If you have questions about your eligibility please email our Program Director, Hannah Smith, @ [email protected]

Author Edgar Villanueva and Rapper Tall Paul were featured at the Tiwahe Foundation’s annual fundraising event. Attended by 200 people, the event also featured storytelling by former grantee Brook Lafloe. New Foundation CEO & President Shirley Sneve was introduced. The former director of Vision Maker Media, Sneve and member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, begins full time in December. The Sioux Chef catered the event.

Dr. LaNada War Jack at Grand Valley State University reflecting on the Occupation of Alcatraz.

Native News Online photograph by Levi Rickert

Special to Native News Online

(Published November 20, 2019)

The Occupation of Alcatraz is one of the most significant benchmarks in the history of the struggle for Native American political sovereignty. Native People took a stand against the colonial powers and reconnected with their lost identities culture and spirituality.

“In We Need to Change How We Think: Perspectives on Philanthropy’s Underfunding of Native Communities and Causes , a recently published report co-authored by Frontline Solutions and First Nations Development Institute, it was suggested that some barriers to investment in American Indian communities are explained by the data disaggregation process, especially for funders who use data as their mandate to invest. Because Native populations are smaller than those of other disadvantaged groups, Native issues aren’t represented well in the data. Respondents in the report claim this can often result in the bureaucratic invisibility of the Native population, given the absolute scale and numbers in relation to the overall population. This, one suspects, leads to assumptions about the overall scale and impact that investing in Native populations can have in comparison to larger groups such as Black or Latinx populations.”