First Nations Awards Grants Totaling $122,900 for Native Food Sovereignty Assessments

Longmont, Colorado, June 16, 2017 -- First Nations Development Institute (First Nations), with the generous support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, recently awarded nine grants totaling $122,900 to Native tribes and organizations to conduct food sovereignty assessments in their respective communities, in order to gain more knowledge and understanding about the historical, current and future state of their local food systems. The assessment results will be used to develop plans to increase local control of food systems to better address community health issues, build the local economies, and help preserve Native cultures.

Also referred to as a community food assessment, a food sovereignty assessment is a collaborative and participative process that systematically examines a range of community food assets in order to inform social and economic change and begin the process of strengthening a food system. The assessment takes a solutions-oriented approach that looks at assets and resources as well as problems. The process has the potential to truly promote local food-system control by increasing knowledge about food-related needs and resources, and by building collaboration and capacity.

First Nations recognizes that Native food systems are important assets to Native communities, and that control of those systems can eliminate food insecurity, improve the health and nutrition of community members and, most importantly, serve as a mechanism for entrepreneurship and economic development. Like most assets of Native people, Native food systems have been altered, colonized and, in some cases, destroyed. Reclaiming control over local food systems promotes healthy Native communities, economies and people.

The new grantees are:

• Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, Concho, Oklahoma, $10,400
• Chugach Regional Resources Commission, Anchorage, Alaska, $15,000
• Nipmuc Indian Development Corporation, Grafton Massachusetts, $10,000
• Ogema Organics, Callaway, Minnesota, $15,000
• Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, Pawnee, Oklahoma, $15,000
• Pueblo of Jemez, Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico, $14,000
• Red Willow Center, Taos, New Mexico, $15,000
• Santa Clara Pueblo, Española, New Mexico, $13,500
• Sust`āinable Molokai, Kaunakakai, Hawaii, $15,000

About First Nations Development Institute

For more than 36 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, visit www.firstnations.org.

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Program Contact:
A-dae Romero-Briones, First Nations Associate Director of Research and Policy, Native Agriculture 
(303) 774-7836 x212 or [email protected]

Media Contact:
Randy Blauvelt, First Nations Senior Communications Officer 
(303) 774-7836 x213 or [email protected]