Grantmaking
The Native Cultures Fund convenes a committee to make granting decisions twice a year, in spring and fall. Current deadlines for consideration are
April 1 and October 15.
NCF grant funding is between $1,000 and $10,000, with most grants falling between $1,000 - $5,000.
Grants can be made to individuals, non-profits, community partnerships, or Tribal Nations. They are made to projects that reflect the transmission of knowledge across generations, based in California Indian culture, art, values, and traditional practices. We define culture in the broadest possible way: As the foodways, languages and cosmologies, ceremony, sacred sites, sports, architecture, arts, teachings and knowledge systems, stories, music, dance, land stewardship, hydrology, maritime traditions, and much more that are indigenous to California.
The Native Cultures Fund serves the area from the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation in the north, to the Chumash territory in the south, and to the Paiute Nations in the east.
Grants are not made to support capacity of large organizations, for economic development, or for projects not rooted in California tribal cultures.
How to Apply
Download: The Native Cultures Fund application (.pdf)
Please ensure you download the file before you begin to complete it.
If you have trouble with the PDF version of the application, please contact the NCF team to assist you.
The application can be returned via email, in PDF formatting, to nativecultures@hafoundation.org
or, via postal mail to Native Cultures Fund, postmarked by due date to:
Native Cultures Fund
363 Indianola Rd
Bayside, CA 95524
Inquiries about the grantmaking process or for assistance, please reach out to our team at nativecultures@hafoundation.org or 707.267.9906
Questions about projects and ideas are welcome, email nativecultures@hafoundation.org or call us any time.
The Decision Makers
NCF Grant and Scholarship decisions are made by committees of California Indian culture bearers from across the 50-county region of California. Committees change each season so many of the cultures we serve can be represented. Committees are made up of three to five people with a balance of gender, age, geographic representation, and cultural expertise. Having grantmakers come from the traditions that we support is integral to the fabric of the Native Cultures Fund. If you would like to serve on a committee, or would like to nominate someone who has deep knowledge of their own California Native culture and interest in strengthening every California Native community, please email us at nativecultures@hafoundation.org.
Some of our recent grantees
Nuumu Beaded Collar Class led by Cheyenne Stone
A Food Sovereignty project led by the Clear Lake Pomo Cultural Preservation
Mewuk Basketry Class led by Jennifer Bates
Noqsi - The Paxiiwovem Canoe Family Guiding "Star" led by L Frank
Advocacy and Water Protection led by Save California Salmon
Wilton Rancheria Restoration Documentation
Maidu Independent Theater led by Alan Wallace
Karuk Elk Film Project led by Emilio Tripp
Gluts project led by Cho-kik Builders
Sheltering Inspiration led by Heyday Institute
Mutsun Language Project led by Quirina Geary
Kai Pomo Jahnoo, a project on language, led by Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians
Nisenan Language led by Wanda Enos Batchelor
Southern Sierra Miwuk Ceremonial Cycle
Roundhouse Maintenance Project
Arrahi Pa'Pah; returning the Dugout Canoe to the Upriver People led by the Nature Rights Council
kontadung yiduk, a language project rooted in nature, led by Native Health in Native Hands
Mak Noono Tiirinikma: Our Language Wakes Up, Chochenyo language project led by the Sogorea Te Land Trust
The Native Mural Project led by the Eureka Street Art Festival
The Basics of Dentalium Cape Making led by Marlette Grant Jackson
Pugwihuu Gathering
Wintu Village Project led by the NorRel Muk Wintu Nation
Presentations of Menil and Her Heart and Douk led by Playhouse Arts and Native Women's Collective
Cyclical Herbs, a project focused on traditional medicines, led by Ruby Tuttle
The Yurok Boys and Girls Club led by the Yurok Tribe
"A K'amt'em Moment" capturing Indigenous knowledge through photography led by Dr. Kishan Lara-Cooper.
Follow the Smoke gathering led by the California Indian Basketweavers Association
Nii~-lii~-chvn-dvn Sheslh-'i~ (sweathouse at the dance grounds) led by the Tolowa Nee-dash Society
Quartz Valley Indian Reservation Basketry Project
"Young Lady Dancers" Cultural Class led by Kaleena Stone
Native language learning flashcards led by Lyn Risling with Heyday Books
Salinan dictionary led by David ShaulSüsüadüümü Tanagadü
Construction of the Yurok Blue Creek Ah Pah Village led by Willard Carlson
Family Language Program led by the Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival
Research and creation of Chumash woven feather dance belts led by Leah Mata Fragua
Resighini Rancheria men's traditional sweathouse
Hide Tanning Educational Project led by Warner Mountain Indian Health, Fort Bidwell
Klamath Sentinels Sculpture Project led by Brian D. Tripp with the Mid Klamath Watershed Counil
“Stories from Our Past” storytelling collection project in Hoopa led by Judith Surber
Transmission of Native Arts, Culture, and Traditional Plants led by the Bishop Paiute Tribe