Maada’ookiing Grants

Maada’ookiing Grants

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Northland Foundation
Amount: Up to US $5,000
Last Updated: July 22, 2025

Summary

Maada’ookiing Grants provide up to $5,000 to support Native American-led community building initiatives. The program aims to strengthen culture and community among Native American peoples by fostering resilience and creative solutions. Guided by a Native American design team and an Advisory Board, Maada’ookiing emphasizes collaboration and relationship-building with Native nations. The grants focus on areas such as youth support, language preservation, and civic engagement, helping to bring community-identified issues to the forefront.

Overview

Background Maada’ookiing offers support for Native American-led community building with grants now up to $5,000 to individuals or groups to strengthen culture and community. Native American people are actively resilient and rich in creative solutions that strengthen and sustain communities. Maada’ookiing (Ojibwemowin for “the distribution”) seeks to strengthen relationships and share resources with Native nations and Native American community members within the region the Northland Foundation serves. Native American-led In many Native American traditions, the act of giving and sharing is recognized as a mutual act that benefits the entire community. Traditional giveaway ceremonies involve thoughtful preparation, kind intention, and putting positive energy into the gift itself. A Native American-led design team created Maada’ookiing in this spirit of sharing, and the program is guided by an Advisory Board of Native nation representatives and other Native American community members. How Maada’ookiing Came to Be In seeking to partner more closely with Native nations and Native American communities, Northland Foundation applied the guiding principle that holds true in all our work: communities know best. To learn more and deepen our understanding, we entered into many conversations with Tribal elected officials and additional Native American leaders in philanthropy, nonprofit, and other sectors. We conducted a study of Northland’s own history, the history of philanthropy in relation to Native nations and Native American-led nonprofits, and the long-standing inequities in grantmaking. A Native American design team was formed, bringing together leaders and community members to dialogue about past and emerging issues, community strengths, and best approaches to partnership. Through a group design process, this team helped create the structure, strategies, and guidance for a program they named Maada’ookiing, which launched with its first round of grants in May 2021. Find data and information about the grantmaking that happened during the first two years in this impact publication. Maada’ookiing also has a focus on continued relationship-building and bringing people together around issues important to Native American people. We are moving forward with efforts to engage, partner, and generate ideas and resources on the community-identified issues of Native American Education and Native American Economic Development. As this program grows, we will continue to learn from our relationships with Native American communities and increase our understanding of what it means to be in true collaboration with Native nations. Miigwech! What We Fund Maada’ookiing grants are a way to support creative, impactful, and Native-led community building. Some past examples include: a community-organized talking circle, youth running group, teaching traditional art forms across generations, sobriety support activities, language tables, food sovereignty activities, and many other activities that Native American community members bring to life. Maada’ookiing Grant Focus Areas: Supporting Native American Youth Strengthening Use of Native American Language Creating Access to Native American Language (digital apps, dictionaries, video, and other creative projects) Sharing Native American Culture/Spiritual Practices and Activities Sustaining Tribal Civic Engagement, Sovereignty, and Self-Determination (including non-partisan Get Out the Vote or civic education) Shifting the Narrative and Increasing Visibility of Contemporary Native American Community Promoting Native American Leadership and Experiences (projects that provide training, networking, and education opportunities) Engaging in Native American Grassroots Organizing (projects that strengthen community well-being and/or respond to Native American community issues) Type Of Costs A Grant Will Help Cover: Materials and supplies, including technology, needed to carry out grant activities Food for program participants Space rental Honorarium for Native American knowledge-holders who assist the project (elders, spiritual leaders, etc.) Compensation for program organizers

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Small groups or individuals may apply. To be eligible: Applicants must be Tribal citizens, descendants, or those who have kinship ties or affiliation to Native American communities for work within the foundation’s geographic service area. In recognition of Native American identity and community identity, eligibility is defined to be inclusive of the broad relationships of belonging. Project work must take place within the Native nation lands of Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (District I), and Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe (District II), and/or the Minnesota counties of Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, and St. Louis.

Ineligibility

Tribal governments and organizations are not eligible for a Maada’ookiing grant.Costs A Grant Will Not Cover:Capital projects (such as buying or renovating buildings or projects that are mainly to buy large equipment) or hard costs related to starting a businessFinancial assistance to support basic needs of individualsPolitical campaigns or other partisan political activitiesSectarian religious activitiesPersonal compensation that is not related to project activitiesPlease note: Maada’ookiing grants do not provide support for costs associated with starting, operating, or expanding business enterprises. Click here for more information about Business Services.