LONGMONT, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) today announced the awarding of 15 grants totaling $523,000 under the Seeds of Native Health campaign. Seeds of Native Health – created and funded by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) and announced earlier this year – is a major philanthropic effort to improve the nutrition of Native Americans across the country. It encompasses efforts to improve awareness of Native nutrition problems, promote wider application of proven best practices, and encourage additional work related to food access, education and research.
First Nations is one of SMSC’s strategic partners in the effort. The newly announced grantees represent the inaugural, first-year grantees under First Nations’ two-year partnership with SMSC. To see descriptions of each project, please visit http://bit.ly/1VPUEnT:
| 1. | Bishop Paiute Tribe, Bishop, California, $40,000 | |||
| 2. | Igiugig Village, Igiugig, Alaska, $39,794 | |||
| 3. | Intertribal Agriculture Council, Billings, Montana, $17,887 | |||
| 4. | Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Cass Lake, Minnesota, $33,743 | |||
| 5. | Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, Montana, $40,000 | |||
| 6. | Mvskoke Food Sovereignty Initiative, Okmulgee, Oklahoma, $40,000 | |||
| 7. | Nez Perce Tribe, Lapwai, Idaho, $37,629 | |||
| 8. | North Leupp Family Farms, Leupp, Arizona, $34,650 | |||
| 9. | Painted Desert Demonstration Project, DBA the STAR School, Flagstaff, Arizona, $40,000 | |||
| 10. | Pueblo of Nambé, Santa Fe, New Mexico, $37,404 | |||
| 11. | Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Red Lake, Minnesota, $39,171 | |||
| 12. | Seneca Diabetes Foundation, Irving, New York, $32,040 | |||
| 13. | The Suquamish Tribe, Suquamish, Washington, $28,773 | |||
| 14. | Zuni Youth Enrichment Project, Zuni, New Mexico, $40,000 | |||
| 15. | Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation, Porcupine, South Dakota, $21,909 | |||
Seeds of Native Health is a comprehensive, national campaign to improve Native American nutrition through capacity building, education and research, supported by the SMSC. The campaign builds on localized efforts to solve the problems of Indian nutrition and hopes to raise awareness, spread knowledge, create capacity for change, and develop additional solutions on a broader scale. Learn more at www.SeedsOfNativeHealth.org.
About First Nations Development Institute
For 35 years, using a three-pronged strategy of educating grassroots practitioners, advocating for systemic change, and capitalizing Indian communities, First Nations has been working to restore Native American control and culturally-compatible stewardship of the assets they own – be they land, human potential, cultural heritage or natural resources – and to establish new assets for ensuring the long-term vitality of Native American communities. First Nations serves Native American communities throughout the United States. For more information about First Nations, visit www.firstnations.org.
About the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
The SMSC is a federally recognized sovereign Indian tribe located southwest of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The SMSC has a deep-seated tradition of helping other tribes and Native American people. The Seeds of Native Health campaign represents a new extension of its long history of philanthropy, by committing a portion of its annual charitable giving to a dedicated purpose. Since opening its Gaming Enterprise in the 1990s, the SMSC has donated more than $300 million to organizations and causes and has contributed millions more to regional governments and infrastructure projects such as roads, water and sewer systems, and emergency services. For more information, visit www.shakopeedakota.org.