BATTLE CREEK, MI – The Native American Heritage Fund (NAHF) Board has selected 10 Michigan communities as recipients of the fund’s 2024 grants. At the Board’s quarterly meeting, projects were chosen from a pool of 13 applicants. Grants totaling nearly $484,500 were awarded to support community projects, academic programming updates, mascot changeovers and other initiatives that honor Native American culture and history in the area.
Priority was given to funding the decommissioning of inappropriate mascots among Michigan public schools, recognizing the financial burden schools face when updating facilities, uniforms and more.
“Over the past several years, we have helped 15 schools retire and rebrand their mascots,” said NAHF Chairperson Dorie Rios, who is also the Tribal Council Chairperson for the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi (NHBP). “Our approach goes beyond merely addressing the issue superficially; we aim to be an integral part of the solution in transforming these mascots. Our commitment extends beyond financial assistance; we are here to offer guidance and support to communities as they navigate away from offensive names and towards more respectful and inclusive identities.”
The NAHF urges schools to consult not only students, but also local tribes when reconsidering a school mascot, and specifically funds schools that have identified the new branding and are prepared and approved internally to make the change.
2024 NAHF grants include:
- Albion College – $35,000 to create a culturally appropriate exhibit and site co-management plan at the Whitehouse Nature Center.
- Camden Frontier School – $105,061 to rebrand the current mascot, signage, floors, athletic facilities and apparel with the new “RedHawks” mascot imagery.
- East Jordan Public Schools – $12,570 to implement the Nbwaachiwedaa miinwaa Kinomaagedaa: Let’s Visit and Learn Program. This grant is in addition to the NAHF grant that East Jordan Public Schools received in 2021, as NAHF continues to work with and support schools as they make ongoing changes.
- Gladstone Area Schools – $18,575 to maintain and protect Native American statues that have been in their park since 1988 and to implement educational and community engagement initiatives.
- Grand Ledge Public Schools – $3,200 to create a culturally appropriate Anishinaabe history lesson for third graders.
- Grand Valley State University (GVSU) – $63,467 to support Native and Indigenous students at GVSU and to expand all of GVSU’s awareness of Anishinaabe culture.
- Okemos Public Schools – $8,000 to develop inquiry-based Michigan history lessons for all third graders in the district, with a focus on the Anishinaabe people and their impact on the Okemos community. This grant is in addition to the NAHF grant received in 2021.
- Plymouth-Canton Community Schools – $145,894 to replace the mascot at Canton High School with the new “Cobras” mascot.
- Port Huron Area School District – $86,052 to replace the mascot at Michigamme and Roosevelt Elementary Schools and High School. This grant is in addition to the NAHF grant received in 2023, as NAHF continues to work with and support schools as they make ongoing changes.
- Suttons Bay Public Schools – $6,600 to further develop cultural curriculum, which is in addition to the NAHF grant received in 2020 and 2018.
The awards will be distributed and shared with the public at the NAHF Grant Award ceremony at FireKeepers Casino Hotel on Friday, September 13, 2024, following the NAHF Board meeting at 11:00am.