Happy Native American Heritage Month to all! As we celebrate all month long, we aim to give you a deeper look into Native American agriculture. This remarkable and sustainable system is a testament to the deep connection between Indigenous communities and the land that has been cultivated for centuries.
Let this month be a joyful celebration of resiliency and strength, a reminder of the importance of honoring the traditions, wisdom, and enduring spirit of Native American communities.
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The Native American Agriculture Fund, in its fifth year of operations, is proud to offer funding to 38 grant projects nationwide -- all with the purpose of advancing agriculture in Indian Country by improving access to capital for Native farmers, ranchers, and producers.
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2023 Grantee Impact Numbers |
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Out of the thirty-eight grants awarded, the grantees will serve 120 Tribal Nations and impact 20 different states, including nine national projects. Over 96,900 producers are expected to be impacted through the grants.
Approximately 45% of the $10 million awarded will go directly to producers as loans, grants, or scholarships.
The top three project focus areas are food production and supply chains, business planning, and food systems and supply chain planning.
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2023 Grantee Impact Numbers - General |
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Type of Entities Funded:
- 10 501c3s
- 10 CDFIs
- 9 Tribal Instrumentalities
- 6 Educational Organizations
- 3 Tribes
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2023 Grantee Impact Numbers - Youth |
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Out of the 6 youth projects, grantees will serve 27 sovereign Tribal Nations and 5 different states with 2 national projects.
The three main project focus areas will address agricultural education, training education and career pathways, as well as economic development and feasibility studies impacting over 1,600 youth.
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The Sovereign Equity Fund is proud to announce the first cohort of Cultural Foodways grantees, six Tribal Colleges and Universities, each with grants of $200,000 for activities over two years. The Cultural Foodways Fund is a grant opportunity and foodways. The grant is dedicated to projects focused on safeguarding the cultural and humanities aspects of work that address the traditions, ceremonies, language art, storytelling, cosmologies, belief systems, customs, and ways of being intertwined with Indigenous foodways.
If you are a TCU and wish to apply for the Cultural Foodways Fund, watch for the second grant cycle request for application in the spring of 2024.
Below are the six awardees of the 2023 Cultural Foodways Fund:
- College of Menominee Nation
- Fort Peck Community College
- Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University
- Red Lake Nation College
- Sisseton Wahpeton College
- Sitting Bull College
To read more on the Cultural Foodways announcement, click the button below.
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Grantee Highlight of the Month
Klamath Trinity Resource Conservation District
Gill Net Project
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This Q&A features some of the top highlights from an interview with Meagen Baldy over the two Klamath Trinity Resource Conservation District grantee (KTRCD) projects. Both projects impact Native youth in upper California. |
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What are your two projects about? |
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"The one I had with NAAF previously was a gill net project. We brought in a bunch of fishermen in our area who were known to make their own nets from a community elder to newer fishermen, and they taught them both traditional and modern practices. All the students also got to keep the nets they hung.
Our new project is set up like a 4H model, but one that's tailored to our community. It's a small-scale project where youth can secure an animal, secure housing, and learn how to raise them from birth to butcher."
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What did your students learn throughout the gill net project? |
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"We taught them first how to hang a net, and then we also talked to them about training protocols on the Trinity River. How you can't set your net wherever you want to. You must first go to your family and see where they set their nets, and you need to go to the elder at that hole and ask them in advance if they could sit at that hole so there's no violations of someone's spot." |
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How did you incorporate Access to Capital in your project? |
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"The food that you produce and that you feed to your family actually helps your bottom line. So with the fishing project, that's the sentiment that we wanted to bring back. To reinstitute our traditional barter systems and what's our traditional form of capital... But with this new project we want to be able to teach the kids how to sell for themselves and how to sell their animals. So they can access capital for themselves, because we do see that their is a huge need for kids to become their own financial responsible person. We want to empower them to be able to feed themselves and to shop or sell for themselves." |
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"There is no better feeling in the world than eating food that you're connected to" - Meagen Baldy |
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Do you have any advice for Native youth concerning ag? |
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"There is no better feeling in the world than eating food that you're connected to. When we go to a grocery store or purchase it from somewhere else - you don't ever get to meet the cook or the farmer. You buy something that may have been shipped hundreds of miles to get to your reservation, so you lose that connection. There is no better feeling in the world than eating food that you're connected to.
When I open up a jam or jelly that we made I can visually see the memories and hear the conversations we had while gathering those berries. These connections are what we need to get back to concerning our food, because that's our identity."
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Vice President of Grants and Compliance |
"I am profoundly honored to join NAAF as the Vice President of Compliance and Grants,” said Libby Washburn. “NAAF is playing a pivotal role in supporting Native farmers and ranchers and I look forward to collaborating with this all-star team to support and create new Native agriculture opportunities within our Tribal communities." |
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NAAF held our first in-person grantee convening in Tulsa, OK. Grantees held networking sessions and heard from numerous guest speakers about the Keepseagle case and NAAF’s creation.
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NAAF had the opportunity to attend and meet leadership at Haskell Indian University, which will lead to forging new partnerships with Tribal Colleges and Universities to establish innovative pathways in higher education. |
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NAAF also attended the 2023 Honor the Harvest Forum to engage in collaborative and dynamic conversations amongst leaders in the agricultural production chain, finding new solutions to support regenerative agriculture and conservation efforts such as soil health. |
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NAAF also conducted outreach with Tribal producers and Native American-focused entities on accessing funding opportunities for sustainable capital in addition to providing insights on building successful grant projects that advance agriculture in Indian Country.
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National Ag Days in November
November is Native American Heritage Month and
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Share your favorite traditional food and what you're cooking in the fall season!
Tag us on Instagram @NativeAgFund
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National Rural Health Day |
National Rural Health Day is an opportunity to acknowledge the importance of accessible and quality healthcare in rural areas, where agriculture often thrives.
Agriculture also plays a significant role in healthiness by providing fresh, locally sourced produce that forms the foundation of a nutritious diet, promoting better health outcomes in rural communities.
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Native American Heritage and Maize Day |
Native American Heritage Day and National Maize Day are both celebrated the day after Thanksgiving. This gives us the opportunity to celebrate the significance of corn, which has been a vital food source for our communities for centuries, providing sustenance and serving as a symbol of both resilience and tradition in numerous Native communities. |
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