February 2020

Congratulations to our January 2020 Family Empowerment Program and Oyate Network Project Grantees

Nine of the Twelve applications for the Family Empowerment Program were approved for funding. The grants ranging from $1,950 to $2,500 will be used to support individuals or families in the impact areas of economic independence, educational, cultural or health and wellness opportunities. Grantees will have a year to complete and evaluate their projects.

Jessica Gokey, Culture: Through the synchronization of technology and traditional Ojibwe beadwork, my goal is to continue this art form on a traditional platform in modern society to inspire traditional beadwork and how it has a place in today’s society.

Keeli Siyaka, Culture: I will finish my regalia, including beadwork and sewing of a shawl and dress, so that I may dance in as many wacipis as possible.

Shiela Zephier, Culture: Requesting funding to travel to Gathering of Nations Powwow and make college visits along the way.

Susan Crow, Economic Independence: I’m seeking funding to turn my work as a seamstress into a business that will provide me income while creating traditional garments and regalia that preserve the culture and educate future generations.

Samsoche Sampson, Economic Independence: To utilize my artistic and visual expression to create new art. I am a performing artist and am working my way into doing more visual arts that include painting, screen printing, printmaking, and graphic designs. I will be creating more visual arts and attend pow-wows and art festivals across Minnesota.

Carrie Phillips, Education: I plan to finish my degree at Metropolitan State University in the Alcohol and Drug Counseling B.S. program, take the state exam to become a licensed professional and proceed to open a half-way house that can help my native brothers and sisters. I will also be utilizing my C.P.P. by doing prevention work with our youth and their families, to help deter harmful behaviors and substance use.

Andrea Reese, Education: Over the next year, I will have liked to accomplish not only beginning school but having completed 3 successful semesters in my business pathways transfer program at MCTC.

Ronald Whiterabbit, Education: I hope to graduate from Augsburg University this summer with a B.S. in biology. I wish to obtain a stable job and provide for my friends and family.

Jasmine Funmaker, Health & Wellness: My goal is for our Native Community to heal through the practice of yoga and to work on self-development and heal past and current traumas while making physical and mental gains.

The Tiwahe Foundation Board of Directors is looking for new members. Up to five new members will be elected in 2020. Newly elected Board Members will be elected for a three-year term. Directors may serve three consecutive terms, for a total of up to nine years. Download the application here: https://tiwahefoundation-media.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/08113136/BOD_Member_Application_2020.pdf

Areas, where the Board desires greater representation, include:

· American Indian tribal members or descendants of tribal members.

· Have significant experience with or knowledge of the Twin Cities American Indian community.

· Reflect the diversity of the American Indian community with respect to tribal affiliation, place of residence, age, gender, and socio-economic background.

· With broad connections to the Indian community who bring specific skills and expertise.

· Individuals who represent different income levels in the Native community and who are engaged in day-to-day work with strong ties and involvement in American Indian communities.

· The Board of Directors of this corporation shall consist of no fewer than seven, and no more than twelve, persons.

From Lower Phalen Creek Project

We Are Still Here – MN

Hello friends and relatives,

Please join is on March 11, 2020 for the We Are Still Here-MN Conference, created and hosted by a collaborative of urban American Indian organizations and leaders.

The conference offers thought-provoking speakers, interactive breakout sessions and a presentation by Crystal EchoHawk (Pawnee) of Reclaiming Native Truth the ground-breaking national research on dominate narratives about American Indians in the United States.

Questions about the conference? Contact our conference coordinator: [email protected]

Jaida Grey Eagle is an Oglala Lakota artist, born in Pine Ridge, South Dakota and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jaida is a photographer, producer, beadwork artist and writer. Jaida’s photography has been published in numerous publications such as Native People’s Magazine, Indian Country Today, Briarpatch, Vogue and Tribal College Journal. Her photography ranges from fine art portraiture to documentation of Indigenous resistance.

Jaida is a B.Yellowtail Collective artist whose beadwork can be found here. Her work is inspired by her families usage of color, passed down from a great-grandmother’s star-quilt color-philosophy of using six colors or more in every piece.

Jaida creates abstractions of her great-grandmothers star quilts as fringed earrings with a blending of colors that are significant to her families legacy as Lakota artists.

Jaida is a co-producer on the Sisters Rising Documentary and has recently received the Vision Maker Media grant for post production work. She is passionate about bringing awareness to indigenous issues. She received formal training in photography at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico and holds her Bachelors of Fine Arts emphasizing in Fine Art Photography.

Jaida Grey Eagle received a Family Empowerment Program grant with the impact area of Education in the Fall of 2019. One of her grant objectives was to help aide in her senior exhibition for her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Fine Art Photography. Jaida graduated this winter and is currently Curatorial Fellow at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

To find out more about the Family Empowerment Program, visit our website or email: [email protected]