Community Building

Whether residing on a rural reservation or within a large metropolitan area, nurturing a sense of community is essential to Native people and their identity. We believe communities inherently have a wealth of knowledge to address their own issues, given adequate resources. The well-being of individuals and community-based organizations are integral to the well-being of a community as a whole.

We support organizations and community programs that impart values, histories, and knowledge across generations to make our communities stronger and healthier.

Grant Program: Grants increase the capacity of individuals, organizations, and communities.
We are particularly interested in supporting initiatives that address the root causes of social, economic, racial, or environmental issues.

Native Student Success

Native students are our community’s most valuable asset as they will become our future leaders who will guide us toward a future of sustainability, sovereignty, and preservation of all Native communities. We envision a future where all Native students have access to meaningful education that provides them with the opportunity to reach their full potential and realize their goals. In addition to the standard markers of educational success, it is vital that Native students are well versed in their culture, identity, and Tribal sovereignty.

Grant Program: Grants encourage organizational learning and build capacity for Tribal communities and Native-led nonprofits to develop local solutions for Native students. We look for applicants who are interested in the development, implementation, and sharing of “best” or “highly effective” practices in your project areas and achieving your outcomes of interest.

Healthy Pathways For Native Youth

Through this initiative, Potlatch Fund provides grant support to summertime projects that share our vision of investing in Native youth as our current and future leaders. We seek new or existing programs with the important goal of providing Native youth the leadership skills to strengthen their resiliency, cultural identity and awareness, increase positive engagement in their community and promote healthy choices and lifestyles.

Grant Program: Grants support Native youth in their transformation from childhood to young adulthood by providing resources to their home communities as they equip the youth with cultural knowledge that builds resilience, leadership, health and wellness.

Native Arts

Native art serves an intrinsic benefit to Native communities. Native creative expression, whether traditional or contemporary, has always been an integral part of Indigenous life and is a key component of cultural identity and survival. In Native culture, art is not separate from everyday life, but rather art is the center of Native life – the center of good. If we accept this, then we must believe that art is fundamental to institutional change and that it can be a transformative path for social justice.

Grant Program: Grants are given to organizations and individual artists working to revitalize art forms, practices, and offer knowledge transfer opportunities from Elders and cultural practitioners to a new generation.

Language Preservation

Language is an integral part of Native identity and sadly many Indigenous languages are critically endangered.
We support projects that strengthen the capacity of programs or projects engaged in language transfer strategies as well as language preservation and documentation efforts.

Grant Program: This grant program aims to foster the inclusion of cultural identities in educational environments through language learning and engagement.