10 Tribes and Native Organizations Receive $10,000 Food Sovereignty Assessment Grants from First Nations Development Institute

LONGMONT, Colorado (May 17, 2016) – First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) today announced the awarding of 10 grants of $10,000 each to Native American tribes and organizations for the purpose of conducting community food sovereignty assessments, which can help communities gain a better knowledge and understanding about the historical, current and future state of their local food systems. First Nations made the awards under its Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative (NAFSI), which is generously supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

The recipients are:

Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Odanah, Wisconsin

Chahta Foundation, Durant, Oklahoma

Menominee Tribal Clinic, Keshena, Wisconsin

Nebraska Indian Community College, Macy, Nebraska

Prairie Island Indian Community, Welch, Minnesota

Saokio Heritage, East Glacier, Montana

Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, La Conner, Washington

Tanana Chiefs Conference, Fairbanks, Alaska

The Center Pole, Garryowen, Montana

Yakanal, New Laguna, New Mexico

A food sovereignty assessment is a community-based data-collection process that can provide a variety of information about the evolution of the local food system; help quantify individual, household or tribal program/government spending on food; Native dollars spent off-reservation on food purchases; potential for food business development; traditional food access; community desires for local food-system development; food policy desires or needs; and more.

In 2004, First Nations released the Food Sovereignty Assessment Tool (FSAT), a tool for Native communities to utilize in developing local community food assessments. The FSAT was updated in 2015 and First Nations has provided many other resources, tools and grant support to assist Native communities in conducting food assessments. A food sovereignty assessment has been a starting point for many communities to develop mechanisms to increase local food-system control. This grant opportunity is intended to support efforts of Native communities looking to gather information and data to understand the evolution of their food systems and make data-informed decisions about the future.

About First Nations Development Institute

For more than 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 http://www.firstnations.org.