NDN Collective Redistributes Nearly $8 Million to Indigenous Peoples

For Immediate release: January 25, 2024

Rapid City, SD – Through the Collective Abundance Fund, NDN Collective has officially awarded $7,900,000 to two hundred grantees in a robust effort to build Indigenous wealth as defined by Indigenous People.

This historic news comes after a year of planning and co-designing with broad community perspectives and priorities. The Collective Abundance Fund was officially launched on May 9, 2023, and was designed in deep collaboration with communities across the tri-state area of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Through the planning and design process, the Collective Abundance Fund team identified new ways of defining wealth, as told by Indigenous people:

Indigenous wealth is a quality of life and mindset that encircles family and community well-being, the care of relationships (self, family, extended family, community, land, environment), and a spirit of generosity.

Money is a tool to support basic needs and bring financial security and self-determination so that one can live a “good life,” abundant in social and cultural sharing.

The community-developed Indigenous wealth definition is being brought to life through several key tactics, including homeownership and repair; business development; and support for a reliable livelihood through mechanisms like debt relief, education, and skills development.

The 200 grantees included 53 from Minnesota, 19 from North Dakota, and 128 in South Dakota. Funding ranges included 116 at $50,000 and 84 at $25,000.

In addition to funds, grantees receive power building resources and training, which includes working with community partner Trauma of Money and developing strategies to build a good life of financial security, self-determination, and social and cultural sharing.

“The response from grantees as they were notified was overwhelmingly positive — some in disbelief, while others shared tears of gratitude,” said Teresa Peterson, NDN Foundation Program Manager.

“This kind of financial, logistical, and community support is critical to addressing the violent colonization of Indigenous peoples. We anticipate growing interest from families ready to put their dreams and aspirations on paper and are honored to serve our communities in this way.”

“Institutional philanthropy has a moral imperative to rematriate wealth back to Indigenous and Black people – the Collective Abundance Fund is part of this effort, and of the larger movement to dismantle colonial and capitalist systems that have negatively impacted Indigenous People for hundreds of years,” said Gaby Strong, Managing Director of NDN Foundation.

“We offer one model to address the wealth gap – but these efforts are fragile, because they exist within institutional waters that are still fundamentally biased and racist. We need all hands on deck from all sectors to truly address the generational wealth gap.”

NDN Collective is grateful to be a partner with the Bush Foundation and Nexus Community Partners, who also received $50 million to address wealth gaps in the Black community.

NDN Collective plans to reopen the Collective Abundance grant application on March 1, 2024.

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NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building, and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.