NT-2024-AR - Flipbook - Page 19
OUR WORK
North America
Frank Brown (Heiltsuk) and Valérie Courtois (Innu)
Lummi Nation, North America | Indigenous Leadership Initiative
Ramona Croff (Blackfoot) dancing | Blackfoot Confederacy,
North America | Mariah Gladstone (Blackfoot, Tsalagi)
Highlights
In 2024, an emerging U.S. Indigenous
Guardians movement – inspired by the
successful model established by our
partners at the Indigenous Leadership
Initiative (ILI) – brought together over
60 Indigenous leaders and organizations
from across the U.S. and Canada for an
in-person gathering hosted by the Lummi
Nation in Coast Salish Territory. This coalition,
involving partners and collaborators including
ILI, the Alaska Conservation Foundation,
the Christensen Fund, Native Americans in
Philanthropy, the Native American Rights
Fund, and others, laid the foundation for
a movement to connect and strengthen
Indigenous guardians programs across the
contiguous U.S., Alaska, and Hawai'i. Together,
the group defined a vision and a strategy to
grow the network and resource capacity to
protect homelands and our environment for
future generations.
Our Blackfeet Nation partners
demonstrated remarkable leadership in
revitalizing their culture throughout 2024.
Through our partnership with the Blackfeet
Nation, we affirmed our commitment to
supporting Indigenous-led conservation,
cultural revitalization, and the long-term
restoration of buffalo as a keystone species
across the plains. The Blackfeet-led nonprofit,
Blackfeet ECO Knowledge, hosted one of the
largest Akao’katsin circle camps, bringing
together community members, youth, and
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knowledge keepers in a powerful gathering
dedicated to preparing for the continued
restoration of buffalo. The camp also
provided a crucial space for intergenerational
knowledge transfer to ensure that culture,
ceremonies, and other land-based practices
remain central to the Blackfeet way of life.
A historic moment occurred during New
York Climate Week when the Blackfeet
successfully reclaimed a sacred ceremonial
bundle from the American Museum of
Natural History. This repatriation marked an
important step in ongoing efforts to return
such artifacts to their rightful keepers while
strengthening the Nation’s spiritual continuity
and cultural rebirth.
Nia Tero also provided key support for
“Bring Them Home,” a documentary
chronicling the release of over 30 wild bison
at Ninna-stako, the most sacred Blackfoot
site. This film, which premiered at the Seattle
International Film Festival, showcased the
cultural and ecological significance of buffalo
restoration and amplified Blackfeet voices
who are working to heal historical wounds
through land and species stewardship.
This documentary also sparked broader
conversations about Indigenous sovereignty,
conservation, and the need to restore balance
to North America’s ecosystems.
Our longstanding partnership with the
Heiltsuk Nation continued to grow in 2024
Nia Tero
through direct collaboration with the Qqs
Projects Society, a Heiltsuk-led organization
dedicated to the well-being of Heiltsuk youth,
culture, and environment. Building on years
of partnership, Nia Tero is working alongside
Heiltsuk leadership to explore enterprise-level
investments that align with the Nation’s longterm vision of sovereignty and stewardship.
These discussions have centered on fostering
Heiltsuk-led enterprises that strengthen local
economies while integrating innovative and
regenerative business models.
As a coastal Nation with heavy ties to
marine stewardship, Heiltsuk leaders
continue advancing efforts to protect and
manage their territories despite facing
challenges relating to extractive industries
and climate change. By supporting initiatives
promoting Heiltsuk governance over natural
resources, we are working to ensure their
guardianship is recognized and upheld.
As we move forward, Nia Tero remains
dedicated to amplifying local leadership,
supporting economic pathways that align
with Heiltsuk values, and promoting
cultural-community vitality.
Through the Indigenous Leadership
Initiative (ILI)’s work, a historic agreement
providing $375 million to fund one of the
largest Indigenous-led land conservation
initiatives in the world was signed by 22
First Nations governments, Canada, the
Annual Report 2024
Government of the Northwest Territories,
and private donors. The Northwest Territories
initiative, NWT: Our Land for the Future, will
protect lands, enhance climate resilience, and
create jobs, supporting cultural and economic
opportunities while honoring Indigenous
self-determination. Canada has committed
monetary support to leverage government
and use $75 million in private funding to
aid in Indigenous conservation through the
Project Finance for Permanence model,
which ensures funding for community-led
protected areas and stewardship programs,
to contribute to the country's goals of
conserving 30% of lands and waters by 2030.
Nia Tero provided grant assistance to the ILI,
which enabled First Nations communities to
create the model.
Aligning with our mission of reciprocity
and responsibility since 2019, Nia Tero has
provided grants to the Puget Sound region,
where our organization is headquartered,
supporting Native communities and
learning how to best steward these lands in
partnership with their original caretakers. In
five years, we have distributed $723,000 to
Indigenous organizations and their allies in
the region, including support to more than
25 Pacific Northwest Art Fellows. In 2024,
we refined our grant process for the region,
ensuring that we are a good neighbor to the
Coast Salish Peoples whose homelands and
waters we gather, work, and live.
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