Native Voices Endowment Grants
APPLICATIONS ARE CURRENTLY CLOSED
Please note that the guidelines for NVE grants have changed. You can find out more by viewing the guidelines here.
ELF provides grants for eligible languages through the Native Voices Endowment: A Lewis & Clark Expedition Bicentennial Legacy. These funds come from the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Council, which received the revenues from the U.S. Mint's sale of the Lewis and Clark 2004 Commemorative Coin. Grants through this program are available to members of the Native American tribes that came in contact with the Lewis and Clark Expedition between 1803-1806.
Grants are available for work on documentation and revitalization of the languages of these tribes (see below for list of eligible languages). Applicants (Principal Investigators) must be enrolled tribal members or employees of tribal colleges. Scholarships for academic work in linguistics or a Native language, or for Master/Apprentice programs are also available for tribal members.
To learn more about the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Exhibit, please visit www.lewisandclarkexhibit.org/index_flash.html.
Native Voices Endowment Recipients
Mosiah Bluecloud, Doug Whalen (Founder, ELF), Aaron Broadwell (ELF Board member), Kate Bridwell-Briner, Robert Lewis, and Kristine Hildebrandt (ELF VP). Mosiah, Kate, and Robert received NVE fellowships to the 2018 CoLang.
Lindsay Marean, Jaeci Hall, and Doug Whalen in Alaska. Jaeci received an NVE fellowship to attend the 2016 CoLang
Aspen Decker’s “Revive Our Roots Language Curriculum” demonstrates amazing and innovative work being done with a language community with few fluent speakers. Salish is highly endangered, with 17 first-language speakers. In the past year, Decker has led multiple workshop and classes where the Salish language and culture are shared through traditional games and art. Decker incorporated seasonal cultural practices - such as gathering native foods - into interactive games that have embedded cultural knowledge. For instance, Decker taught vocabulary along with a game where young men practiced shooting an arrow into a spinning willow hoop, preparing them to hunt. Decker also hosted two workshops with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Education Department that focused on combining storytelling, ledger art, and Stq́ĺséčt (PlainsIndianSignLanguage)