Revitalizing Ojibwe language, teaching traditional storytelling and educating young people on treaty history are all efforts that northern Minnesota's tribal communities often rely on volunteers to carry out.
A new Duluth-based Northland Foundation grant program, Maada'ookiing, aims to finance some of that volunteer work.
Built so that representatives from area tribal nations — not foundation staff — decide who is awarded money, Maada'ookiing translates to "distribution" in Ojibwe. Grants of up to $2,500 will be awarded three times a year to individuals or informal groups starting May 1. The idea is to award grassroots efforts as opposed to nonprofits and ensure that proposals are viewed from an Indigenous perspective. This first round, $25,000 has been set aside to award to people within the foundation's service area.
It's a way to offset costs for unfunded community building work, said LeAnn Littlewolf, Northland's senior program officer, who is coordinating the giving program.
"It's for those with limited resources but have a heart for the people," said Littlewolf, enrolled with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.
Gift giving is hugely important to Native American culture, Littlewolf said, "and this is a way to support that."
The foundation consulted with Karen Diver, who served as special assistant to the president for Native American affairs under President Barack Obama and is a former leader of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. She ensured the organization understood and respected tribal sovereignty and Native American history.
Across the country, less than 1% of philanthropy goes to tribes and Indigenous people, Diver said. Because a lot of wealth came from things that used to belong to Indigenous people, like land, timber and minerals, she said, "this is really about equity and closing the gaps that were created by capitalism off of Indigenous assets."