News & Updates

Winter/Spring 2026

Boozhoo aniin! (Hello & Welcome!)

We hope you will enjoy hearing about the good work happening.


Maada'ookiing (“the distribution” in Ojibwe) is a Native-led program of the Northland Foundation designed to strengthen relationships with and offer support to Native American community members doing individual or small group work outside of formal nonprofit organizations or Tribal nation entities.


A grant opportunity is offered three times per year, awarding up to $5,000 per grant for Tribal citizens, descendants, or individuals with kinship ties or affiliation to Native American communities for projects happening within the foundation’s geographic service area. Grant applications are accepted any time.


Maada'ookiing Grants Awarded


Congratulations & miigwech to our recent grantees!



SUMMER 2025 GRANTS


Ruth Porter, Orr: $5,000

To support a class that teaches Bois Forte youth how to craft their own pow wow regalia.

 

Anthony Drews, Ham Lake: $5,000

To support a series of traditional game events that teach Ojibwe culture and language in the communities of Bois Forte, Fond du Lac, and Mille Lacs.

 

Sarah Agaton Howes, Cloquet: $5,000

To support an ongoing series of classes for Native makers and artists to learn, share, and build community on the Fond du Lac Reservation.

 

Laura Winter, Duluth: $5,000

To support the development of a comprehensive foundational literacy program in the Ojibwe language that can be utilized by educators.

 

Nate Smith, Duluth: $5,000

To support community workshops focused on the Four Sacred Medicines (sage, sweetgrass, cedar, and tobacco) with hands-on teachings about their cultural and spiritual significance.

 

Ivy Vainio, Duluth: $2,000

To continue to support a billboard that promotes self-love through the Ojibwe language and intergenerational families.

 

Wendy Savage, Duluth: $5,000

To support the development of a cultural art activity booklet and lesson that shares the art and history of the Fur Trade and the Ojibwe, which will accompany the exhibitions "Fur Trade Nation" and "Ojibwe Adornment in Beads, Cloth, Ribbon and Fur".

 

Sharon Doolittle Shuck, Duluth: $5,000

To support the publishing of a book based on an Ojibwe elder's memories of life on the Fond du Lac Reservation from 1939-1949, and the impact of the Treaty of 1854 on their family's history.

 

Ryan Drew Bajan, Ely: $5,000

To support a three-day wild rice camp for youth and families on the Bois Forte Reservation.

 

Melissa Brown, Grand Portage: $5,000

To support equipment for the safe storage and transportation of sports equipment for Grand Portage youth teams.

 

Rebecca Gawboy, Tower: $5,000

To support the development of natural medicine repositories on the Nett Lake and Vermilion Reservation that will provide space for community members to learn about traditional plant medicines.

 

Alexander Kmett, Cloquet: $5,000

To digitize, transcribe, and preserve recordings of pow wow, traditional music, and Ojibwe language recordings.

 

April McCormick, Grand Portage: $5,000

To support activities that promote water protections and bring traditional cultural elements to tribal-state consultations.

 

FALL 2025 GRANTS

 

Danielle Fairbanks, Duluth: $5,000

To support sharing cultural knowledge with the Indigenous community of Duluth through quilt-making classes.

 

Caitlyn Taylor, Duluth: $5,000

To support trauma-responsive yoga classes that are grounded in language, culture, wellness, and community connection.

 

Victoria McMillen, Cloquet: $5,000

To empower American Indian families to engage more confidently in Local Indian Education Committees through publicly available training resources.

 

Jesse Thompson, Cass Lake: $4,500

To support a 3-week pow wow regalia making workshop for community members at Leech Lake District 1.

 

Giuseppina Odin, Bloomington: $4,950

To support a training opportunity for Native American relatives in the Duluth area and surrounding areas on how to effectively communicate with local, and state representatives and how to testify on the capitol floor.

 

Shane Drift, Nett Lake: $5,000

To support a children's book that uses storytelling to convey simple traditional teachings for youth, and ensure these teachings are shared with future generations.

 


Keep in Touch - Photos Wanted!

Are you a current or former Maada'ookiing grantee? We would love to hear from you and possibly share your project with others!


Please contact us at grants@northlandfdn.org with stories or photos of your experiences doing your project work.

Next Grant Round

Apply by February 15, 2026!

Do you have a great community project idea? You can submit your application at any time, using the website portal, and now can request a grant up to $5,000.


Since the program began in May 2021,122 Maada’ookiing grants totaling more than $382,000 have been given to a diverse range of projects that:


  • Support Native American youth
  • Strengthen use of or access to Native American language (including also digital apps, dictionaries, video, and other creative projects)
  • Share Native American culture/spiritual practices.
  • Sustain Tribal civic engagement, sovereignty, and self-determination (including non-partisan get out the vote or civic education). 
  • Shift the narrative and increase visibility of contemporary Native American communities.
  • Promote Native American leadership and experiences (projects that provide training, networking, and education opportunities).
  • Engage in Native American grassroots organizing (projects that strengthen community well-being and/or respond to Native American community issues).




"One finger cannot lift a pebble."

— Hopi Proverb



Funding Eligibility

map of northland foundation service area with all or parts of the 5 reservations and 7 counties highlighted

This opportunity offers grants to individuals or groups (not official nonprofit organizations). Applicants must be citizens, descendants, or have kinship ties or affiliation to Native American communities.


The project or work to be supported must take place within the Northland Foundation's service area: the Tribal lands of the Zagaakwaandagowininiwag (Bois Forte Band of Chippewa), Gichi Onigaming (Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa), Nagaajiwanaang (Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa), Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, District I) and Misi-zaaga'igani Anishinaabeg (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, District II) as well as the Minnesota counties of Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, and St. Louis.

Questions? Need assistance? Email us at grants@northlandfdn.org.

Ojibwemowin-Ojibwe Language Vocabulary


Gawaapi


(vai) s/he falls over from laughing so hard

Land Acknowledgement

The Northland Foundation’s geographic service area rests on ceded territory established by the Treaties of 1837, 1854, 1855, and 1866 between the Anishinaabe/Ojibwe Nations and the United States government. This region is the traditional homelands of the Ojibwe, Dakota, Northern Cheyenne, and other Native nations, and Indigenous people continue to live here. We humbly acknowledge that we are on traditional Indigenous land that holds a long history that continues to grow. Our relationships today shape and define our ongoing shared history. Together, we are actively building mutual respect based on trust and understanding. See a more detailed acknowledgement of this land and its history.

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