Our grantee First Nations Development Institute released a report finding that “it is important for regional, national and international organizations to support Indigenous peoples in their efforts to advance the rights and opportunities of the stewards of biocultural diversity and sustainable land management practices.“
The report concludes:
Through greater understanding [of] the intricate role California’s Indigenous people continue to uphold in the stewardship of land and food systems, philanthropies may re-think and re-value where resources are deployed in order to ensure a more resilient future for all. With greater understanding, foundations have the resources to empower tribal agency by encouraging food producers and other interested members of the public to interact with tribal experts, producers and landowners. By raising awareness of the diversity of the food landscape and encouraging collaborations and partnerships where best suited, the possibilities are unlimited.
Tribes inhabit every kind of microclimate and geographic locale, are spread throughout every region, and are solutionaries to help re-create conditions conducive to life as they have since time immemorial. This is the kincentric ecological practice that is needed now more than ever.
For philanthropists wanting to support tribes and their kincentric ecological practices, the report suggests:
- Support Native-led funds directed by people rooted in communities that know the needs on the ground (see below for fund examples in California).
- Research the history of tribes in the area that you are wishing to partner with and reach out to learn more about their efforts.
- Ask what tribal communities need and are working to accomplish. Ask what they are needing in terms of support.
- Build in enough time for relationship building and visitation to establish rapport.
- Listen to the needs of the community and seek to not fit them inside philanthropic priority buckets.
- Embrace kincentric ecology as a legitimate and fundable pathway toward healthier food systems and resilient land stewardship practices. This might entail supporting language, basketry, arts, land purchase assistance, and more.