Native art and Identity

Foundation to Support Native Arts
April 27, 2009

By Mary Hudetz of the Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Decades after federal policies sought to discourage many American Indians from participating in their tribal customs, a foundation has been formed to preserve and nourish the arts of American Indians and other native groups.

With the help of $10 million from the Ford Foundation, the new Native Arts and Cultures Foundation will begin establishing itself in Portland, said Walter Echo-Hawk, an Oklahoma lawyer who chairs its board.

"This is a very powerful idea," he said. "We think it's sort of a missing piece for native arts and cultures."

The board put its headquarters in Portland because of the city's thriving arts and American Indian communities. Among the board members is Elizabeth Woody of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in Central Oregon.

Grants Should Start Going Out This Year

The foundation's scope encompasses Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians. Its new president, Tara Lulani Arquette, a Native Hawaiian, will move to the city next month to select an office site, Echo-Hawk said.

By the end of the year, the foundation hopes to start awarding grants to artists and organizations that support native art and culture.

Those grants will not only boost efforts to preserve what remains of the nation's traditional tribal cultures and customs that historically were suppressed or prohibited, but also support contemporary native painting, theater, music and other art, Echo-Hawk said.

"Our cultures have survived," he said. "They've persisted and thrived."

Ford-Funded Study Showed Lack of Support

But there is still a need for more financial support, and this foundation could fill that void, said Elizabeth Theobald Richards, a Cherokee and Ford Foundation program officer.

"These are the indigenous peoples of this country," she said. "The art forms and the cultural heritage of these people have been underfunded and not recognized enough."

A 2006 study funded by the Ford Foundation showed there was no government support for American indigenous art and culture and relatively little philanthropic assistance, according to the Native American Rights Fund. The study led to the founding of the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation.

It's not the first national organization devoted to supporting tribal arts and culture, Echo-Hawk said, but it is the first to be permanently endowed.

In the future, he said, the foundation hopes to partner on projects with other organizations, namely the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., and the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. He also expects the foundation's mission to support tribal arts and culture won't be set back by the down economy because funding was secured before the start of the recession.

"Our foundation is in this for the long haul," he said. "And the economy will be bouncing back."

Mary Hudetz is an Associated Press staff writer. Hudetz, who is Crow, worked for reznet as a reporter and editor when she was a journalism student at the University of Montana graduate school.

I chose to post this article in our blog because I think that art is a huge part of people's culture and identity. This foundation not only supports and displays Native artists work but also serves as a way of preserving culture and allowing Native people to express their identity through art."Those grants will not only boost efforts to preserve what remains of the nation's traditional tribal cultures and customs that historically were suppressed or prohibited, but also support contemporary native painting, theater, music and other art, Echo-Hawk said. 'Our cultures have survived,' he said. 'They have persisted and thrived."
Brianna Howze