Lannan Foundation's Indigenous Communities Program

Languages: Any indigenous language spoken by Native people within their aboriginal land base or reservation, within the United States

Program Base: Santa Fe, New Mexico

Goals:
To support the resolve of Native people to renew their communities through their own institutions and traditions.

Brief Description:
In 1994, Lannan Foundation established the Indigenous Communities Program, a national grant program focused on the urgent needs of rural Native American communities. This program supports the renewal of Native American communities through their own institutions and traditions. Funding priority is given to projects consistent with traditional values in the areas of education, Native cultures, the revival and preservation of languages, legal rights, and environmental protection. In the Southwest, Lannan Foundation has awarded grants to the Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee for its master-apprentice language immersion program and to the Linguistic Institute for Native Americans, which is based in Albuquerque, for its work to train Keres-language speakers to become teachers in four Pueblos in New Mexico.

In 1999, the Foundation will be on hiatus from funding any new projects. In the past, grants for language preservation have ranged from technical assistance grants under $2,000 to more than $500,000 for ongoing language immersion programs. Lannan invites grant applications from federally recognized tribes and from nonprofit organizations for multi-year support. Projects must both serve and be controlled by Native people, including American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. It is essential that applications show community support for the proposed project.

Materials: Not applicable

Support: Not applicable.

Contact Information:
Janet Voorhees, Director, Indigenous Communities Program
Lannan Foundation
313 Read Street
Santa Fe, NM 87501