First Peoples Fund

First Peoples Fund
Name	First Peoples Fund
Type	Nonprofit
Founded	1995
Founder	Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (note: see history)
Headquarters	Rapid City, South Dakota
Area served	United States
Focus	Indigenous arts, cultural preservation, economic development

First Peoples Fund is a nonprofit organization that supports Indigenous artists, culture bearers, and communities across the United States through grants, fellowships, training, and advocacy. Founded in the mid-1990s, the organization operates from the Pine Ridge region and serves Tribal Nations, Native villages, and urban Indian communities. First Peoples Fund focuses on sustaining traditional and contemporary Indigenous arts and cultural leadership while engaging with philanthropic institutions, federal agencies, and cultural organizations.

History

First Peoples Fund emerged during a period of renewed Indigenous cultural activism linked to events such as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act debates and the growth of organizations like the National Endowment for the Arts, Smithsonian Institution, and Native American Rights Fund. Early convenings included leaders from the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, Oglala Sioux Tribe, and other Nations who sought to create locally governed philanthropy similar to initiatives by the Ford Foundation and W. K. Kellogg Foundation. The organization's formative years paralleled movements associated with the American Indian Movement, collaborations with the National Congress of American Indians, and the expansion of Indigenous arts programming at institutions such as the Peabody Museum and Milwaukee Art Museum. Over time, First Peoples Fund developed programming influenced by models from the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation and policy discussions at the U.S. Department of the Interior and National Museum of the American Indian.

Mission and Programs

First Peoples Fund's mission centers on supporting Indigenous cultural practitioners and Native-led cultural economies, drawing connections to efforts led by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Administration for Native Americans, and community-based organizations like the Alaska Native Heritage Center and American Indian Movement. Programs emphasize leadership development, cultural stewardship, economic viability, and intergenerational knowledge transfer with ties to entities such as the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan, the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative, and tribal colleges including Sinte Gleska University and Haskell Indian Nations University. Programmatic work interacts with federal policy arenas including the National Historic Preservation Act processes and tribal cultural property protections convened by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Grantmaking and Fellowships

Grantmaking strategies include fellowships, seed grants, and project support modeled alongside fellowships awarded by the Guggenheim Foundation, MacArthur Fellows Program, and the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation. The organization's fellowship program supports culture bearers, traditional teachers, and contemporary artists from Nations such as the Navajo Nation, Lakota, Ojibwe, Tlingit, Pueblo, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and Cherokee Nation. Funding partners have included foundations like the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and federal funders including the National Endowment for the Arts and the Administration for Native Americans. First Peoples Fund award processes reference practices used by the National Endowment for the Humanities and arts councils such as the South Dakota Arts Council.

Notable Fellows and Projects

Fellows and projects span a range of artists, cultural practitioners, and community initiatives connected to figures and institutions such as Joy Harjo, Louise Erdrich, T.C. Cannon, and collaborative exhibitions at the National Museum of the American Indian, Walker Art Center, and Seattle Art Museum. Projects have included language revitalization initiatives aligned with programs at University of Alaska Fairbanks, basketry and beadwork apprenticeships associated with the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, and performance residencies involving partners like Penumbra Theatre Company and Bicycle Film Festival-style community arts events. Regional cultural revitalization efforts have intersected with tribal governments such as the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Rosebud Sioux Tribe and with academic centers like Cornell University's American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program.

Partnerships and Collaborations

First Peoples Fund collaborates with a network of Tribes, nonprofit organizations, museums, and foundations including the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, Grantmakers in the Arts, Association on American Indian Affairs, National Museum of the American Indian, American Indian College Fund, and tribal entities like the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. Cross-sector collaborations engage universities such as University of Arizona, University of New Mexico, and Indiana University as well as philanthropic intermediaries like the Rockefeller Foundation and the McKnight Foundation. These partnerships enable joint initiatives in cultural documentation, economic development, and public programming with cultural institutions including the American Federation of Arts and regional museums like the Denver Art Museum.

Organizational Structure and Funding

First Peoples Fund operates under a board of directors composed of Indigenous leaders, artists, and experts with governance practices comparable to those at the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation and tribal nonprofits governed by constitutions like those of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Oneida Nation. Funding sources include private foundations (e.g., Mellon Foundation, Kresge Foundation), federal grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and Administration for Native Americans, corporate philanthropy, and individual donors. Administrative functions collaborate with legal counsel experienced in tribal law, accountants familiar with nonprofit fiscal sponsorship models, and program evaluators using frameworks from the Urban Institute and Independent Sector.

Impact and Recognition

First Peoples Fund has influenced cultural policy conversations at institutions such as the National Endowment for the Arts and the Smithsonian Institution and has been cited in reports by organizations including the National Congress of American Indians and First Americans research initiatives. Recognition for fellows and supported projects has appeared in venues like the New York Times, Artforum, and exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art. The organization's work is reflected in strengthened cultural economies among participating Nations, broader visibility for Indigenous arts in mainstream institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and policy engagements with federal bodies like the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Category:Native American arts organizations Category:Non-profit organizations based in South Dakota