Video Explores Changing Landscape of Native Food Sources

Posted on January 19, 2016 by rblauvelt

First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) recently posted a new video on its YouTube Channel titled “Traditional Food Systems: The Changing Landscape of Native American Food Sources” at this link as part of our Native American food security effort that was underwritten by AARP Foundation.

The video features insights from elders and others involved in food-systems work at three pueblos in New Mexico: Cochiti, Nambé and Santo Domingo. In particular, it asks elders to describe what the food systems were like in the pueblos back when they were younger and how they have changed. Today, the goal is to reclaim control of local food systems for better health, nutrition, security and well-being.

The video was photographed and edited for First Nations by students and faculty in the Cinematic Arts & Technology Department at the Institute of American Indian Arts [IAIA] in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A second video from the project is completed and is now being finalized by IAIA.

Statistics indicate that approximately 12 percent of all Native Americans living in poverty are age 55 or older. Additionally, Native American seniors often suffer from higher rates of obesity, diabetes and other diet-related illnesses. Through First Nations, AARP Foundation has contributed significant funding toward improving the health and nutrition of Native American seniors.

AARP Foundation is working to win back opportunity for struggling Americans 50+ by being a force for change on the most serious issues they face today: housing, hunger, income and isolation. By coordinating responses to these issues on all four fronts at once, and supporting them with vigorous legal advocacy, the foundation serves the unique needs of those 50+ while working with local organizations nationwide to reach more people, work more efficiently and make resources go further. AARP Foundation is a charitable affiliate of AARP.

To watch this video, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q3zrLdFbLE. You’ll also find numerous other videos related to our work on our YouTube Channel.

Watch for Our TV Spots on Comcast/Xfinity in December

Posted on November 18, 2015 by rblauvelt

A scene from one of the PSAs

First Nations Development Institute’s two TV public service advertisements (PSAs) will be running on Comcast NBCUniversal’s Xfinity cable TV service in several market areas between Nov. 30, 2015, and December 27, 2015. The airtime was generously donated by the Comcast Foundation and Comcast NBCUniversal, who have donated production funds and significant airtime to First Nations since 2013. (The Comcast Foundation also has supported other projects of First Nations, most notably providing $150,000 over three years toward First Nations’ Urban Native Project.)

The PSAs will air in 30 Comcast market areas. If you live in one of these areas and subscribe to Comcast/Xfinity, please keep an eye out for our spots:

Albuquerque, NM
Portales/Tucumcari, NM
Atlanta, GA
Baltimore, MD
Boston, MA
Champaign, IL
Chicago, IL
Colorado Springs, CO
Denver, CO
Las Cruces, NM
Eugene, OR
Ft. Myers, FL
Hartford, CT
Houston, TX
Indianapolis, IN
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Monterey-Santa Cruz, CA
Northern New Jersey (NYC area)
Philadelphia, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
Portland, OR
Rockville, MD
San Francisco, CA
Sarasota, FL
Savannah, GA
Seattle, WA
Spokane, WA
Tallahassee, FL
Washington, D.C.
West Palm Beach, FL

First Nations’ PSAs can also be viewed on our website at this link: http://www.firstnations.org/psa/psa.html

Separately, in August 2015, Comcast NBCUniversal featured an article about First Nations in its 2015 Corporate Social Responsibility Report. Here’s a direct link to the story: http://corporate.comcast.com/csr2015/raising-awareness-with-real-stories

Tribes Convene for Native Asset-Building Workshop on IDA Programs

Posted on January 12, 2015 by rblauvelt

Native American tribal representatives from many parts of the U.S. converged on Denver, Colorado, in November 2014 to attend a state-of-the-art, two-day “Native IDA Training Workshop” sponsored by First Nations Oweesta Corporation (an independent subsidiary of First Nations Development Institute), Christina Finsel Consulting, and First Nations Development Institute. Attendance at the workshop demonstrated the broad and fast-growing interest in an effort that is helping Native Americans build their assets.

IDAs, or Individual Development Accounts, are matched-savings accounts that help people learn the savings habit. The training was designed to assist Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), tribes and other Native organizations that are hoping to establish or build their IDA programs. Nationally, there are more than 30 Native IDA programs serving their respective communities.

The more than 25 participants represented numerous tribes or reservation-based organizations, including Gila River, Santo Domingo Pueblo, Seminole, Seneca, Sisseton Wahpeton, Chickasaw and others. They attended sessions that covered designing a new program, growing an existing program, and how to capitalize an IDA program.

Because the programs represented were at different levels of evolution, the workshop modules were customized for different working groups. Topics were as broad as designing or modifying policies and procedures, data management and reporting, and program sustainability. All of the participants were interested in discussing marketing and recruitment strategies, and peer learning was supported as the more mature IDA programs were able to mentor young or start-up IDA programs.

Participants responded positively to the training, with one sharing that “facilitators took the time to listen and answer our questions … they were very knowledgeable.” All attendees agreed that the content presented was useful to them. Most participants (95%) also agreed they would recommend this training to others.

“We were honored to work with people to help them design IDA programs to meet the needs in their communities,” observed Krystal Langholz, Director of Programs at First Nations Oweesta Corporation. “New groups left with real plans for moving their IDA programs forward and existing IDA programs networked and received one-on-one technical assistance from the best in the industry.”

“I am so impressed with all the enthusiasm I have seen for the IDA program model,” noted Christy Finsel, a co-trainer for the workshop. “Tribes and Native nonprofits are finding their own paths forward, with programs that are reflective of local cultures and designed to help build assets.”

Comcast Foundation Donates $2 Million in Airtime

Posted on May 19, 2014 by rblauvelt

A scene from one of the First Nations PSAs, shot at Santo Domingo Pueblo in New Mexico

The Comcast Foundation has donated $2 million in airtime on Comcast’s Xfinity cable TV system to run First Nations’ public service announcements (PSAs) during June and July 2014.

This is the second year that the Comcast Foundation has made a significant contribution of broadcast time for First Nations’ 30-second television spots. During 2013, the foundation and Comcast Corporation donated more than $1.5 million in airtime, which resulted in the airing of First Nations’ announcements more than 113,000 times in 13 market areas around the United States. The Comcast Foundation also donated $20,000 in cash for production of the two TV spots. For 2014, the First Nations spots will run in 30 market areas from coast to coast. The spots can be seen online here: http://www.firstnations.org/psa/psa.html.

“This generous gift of airtime will go a very long way toward building awareness of the critical economic development and asset-building needs of struggling Native American communities, and how First Nations plays a key behind-the-scenes role in that,” said First Nations President Michael E. Roberts. “We are deeply grateful to Comcast for continuing its significant support of our efforts.”

Bill Black, vice president and executive director of the Comcast Foundation, said, “We are excited to partner with First Nations on this important initiative for a second year. At Comcast, we are committed to leveling the playing field so that everyone, regardless of income, has an opportunity to improve their life.”

Recent Grants Give Big Boost to First Nations’ Mission

Posted on March 19, 2014 by rblauvelt

Over the past couple of months, First Nations has received several grants that will go a long way toward fulfilling our mission of strengthening American Indian economies to support healthy Native communities.

In March, we received a $1.2 million grant for a project that aims to build the sustainability and vibrancy of Native American organizations that are specifically targeting Native artists and Native cultural institutions. Under the project, we expect to award between 18 and 55 grants ranging from $500 to $30,000 each over the next three years. The grants will help develop the effectiveness and capacity of reservation-based and select non-reservation-based Native museums, cultural centers, community development financial institutions (CDFIs), nonprofit organizations, tribal programs and Native chambers of commerce that have program initiatives in place to support Native art and Native artists. There also will be additional grants, scholarships and travel stipends awarded for professional development opportunities, conferences and related convenings.

The grant was awarded by the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation of Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

In February, we announced that AARP Foundation granted us $250,000 to expand a project that addresses hunger, nutrition and food security of Native American tribal elders. The new grant expands work that began in 2012 when AARP Foundation provided First Nations with a $187,660 grant to begin the Native American Food Security project.

Under the first grant, First Nations awarded funding to four projects that have been successfully completed and evaluated. They were to the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, the Pueblo of Nambe and Santo Domingo Pueblo in New Mexico, and Sipaulovi Development Corporation (Hopi) in Arizona. Under the new grant, First Nations will award funding to additional Native American projects.

Earlier in February, we announced that the Comcast Foundation provided a $50,000 grant to supplement a 2013 grant of $1.1 million from The Kresge Foundation. Together, they are being used to enhance the capacity and effectiveness of American Indian nonprofit organizations located in urban settings, as well as providing training and technical assistance services.

This is just the latest from the Comcast Foundation. Last year the foundation gave First Nations funds to produce television announcements along with more than $1.5 million in donated airtime on the Comcast Xfinity cable TV system. This allowed First Nations to run its public service advertising spots more than 113,000 times on various channels. In turn, these announcements helped build awareness of First Nations and the work we do to address pressing issues in Indian Country.

23 Groups Receive Native Youth & Culture Fund Grants

Posted on November 20, 2013 by rblauvelt

In October, First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) announced the selection of 23 American Indian and Alaska Native organizations to receive grants totaling $400,000 through First Nations’ Native Youth and Culture Fund, which is underwritten by the Kalliopeia Foundation with contributions from other foundations and tribal, corporate and individual supporters.

The Native Youth and Culture Fund is part of First Nations’ effort to strengthen Native American nonprofit organizations, with the intent to preserve, strengthen and/or renew American Indian culture and tradition among tribal youth. The grants support the projects and provide capacity-building and training to the organizations’ staff members. All of the funded projects demonstrate creative and innovative approaches, whether through traditional knowledge, art, language or a program or business enterprise.

The complete list of grantees and their project descriptions can be found here: http://www.firstnations.org/node/630. The projects cover a variety of areas, including youth-elder intergenerational programs, cultivating responsibility and leadership, language programs, traditional foods and farming, wellness, history and cultural documentation.

Tribal entities represented in this year’s awards include the Northern Cheyenne, Cochiti, Dakotah/Dakota, Lakota, Euchee, Mohawk, Grand Ronde, Lumbee, Lummi, Menominee, Diné/Navajo, Nez Perce, Santa Ana, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Quinault, Santo Domingo, Haida and Zuni.