We have awarded $15 million to preserve Native American languages since 2020.

  • In FY2023, we approved $5.723 million in funds for 20 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages to document, preserve, and revitalize Native languages.
  • In FY2021 & FY2022, we approved $7 million in funds for 45 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages to document, preserve, and revitalize Native languages.
  • In FY2020, we approved $3 million in funds for 18 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages to document, preserve, and revitalize Native languages.

We often receive more proposals than can be funded by our annual budget, which is determined by Congress and varies on a year-to-year basis.  Submissions were rated on how effectively the language programs would document, preserve, or revitalize a Native language; the degree to which the language addressed by a proposal risks extinction; the likelihood that the instruction to be funded would revitalize the language by preventing intergenerational disruption; and the number of students or percentage of tribal members the proposal would benefit.

FY2023 Living Languages Grant Program Awardees

Congratulations to the FY2023 Living Languages Grant Program Awardees!!
The Awardees are listed below (Press Release is available here):

Awardee Amt. Awarded
Bundled Arrows Inc $ 288,098.00
Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes $ 265,920.00
Cherokee Nation $ 300,000.00
Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians $ 299,900.00
Igiugig Village $ 299,999.00
Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma $ 300,000.00
Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation, South Dakota $ 296,273.00
Lummi Tribe of the Lummi Reservation $ 296,000.00
Metlakatla Indian Community, Annette Island Reserve $ 299,900.00
Modoc Nation $ 299,807.00
Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, California & Arizona $ 201,997.00
Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin $ 300,000.00
Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Nevada $ 300,000.00
Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma $ 300,000.00
San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation, Arizona $ 219,647.00
Shawnee Tribe $ 280,200.00
Sitting Bull College $ 299,928.00
Kalispel Indian Community of the Kalispel Reservation $ 298,552.00
Tribal Government of St. Paul Island $ 277,500.00
Wichita and Affiliated Tribes $ 299,279.00
$ 5,723,000.00

FY2021 and FY2022 Living Languages Grant Program Awardees

Congratulations to the FY2021 and FY2022 Living Languages Grant Program Awardees!!
The Awardees are listed below (Press Release is available here):

$172,026.00 Artic Slope Community Foundation, Inc.

$86,240.98 Bois Forte Band of Chippewa

$200,000.00 Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska

$166,300.00 Chickaloon Native Village

$199,997.00 Chickasaw Nation

$180,100.00 Chippewa Cree Tribe

$192,121.24 Comanche Nation

$161,150.00 Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua & Siuslaw Indians

$82,396.00 Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

$59,290.00 Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians

$198,996.00 Delaware Nation

$60,189.40 Dine College

$155,717.62 Forest County Potawatomi Community

$199,680.00 Fort Belknap Community Economic Development Corporation

$121,299.00 Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe

$199,686.00 Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria

$200,000.00 Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Inc.

$200,000.00 Lummi Nation

$129,337.00 Manzanita Band of Diegueno Mission Indians

$199,900.84 Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe

$199,854.00 Modoc Nation

$85,064.00 Mohegan Tribe of Indians of CT

$69,789.00 Muscogee (Creek) Nation

$159,957.67 Nez Perce Tribe

$192,371.00 North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians of California

$169,648.87 Northern Arapaho Tribe

$60,000.00 Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation

$200,000.00 Omaha Tribe of Nebraska

$192,460.75 Pala Band of Mission Indians

$139,930.94 Puyallup Tribe of Indians

$72,000.00 Quapaw Nation

$168,792.50 Rosebud Economic Development Corporation

$193,998.00 Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan

$184,344.00 San Carlos Apache Tribal Council

$157,956.00 Santee Sioux Nation

$123,795.00 Santo Domingo Pueblo (Kewa Pueblo)

$106,554.00 Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians

$170,297.00 Spirit Lake Tribe

$172,328.00 Tribal Government of Saint Paul Island

$200,000.00 Turtle Mountain Community College

$200,000.00 Ute Mountain Ute Tribe

$138,230.31 Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California

$198,364.00 Wichita and Affiliated Tribes

$81,134.00 Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska

$198,703.88 Wiyot Tribe

FY2020 Living Languages Grant Program Awardees

In 2020, we approved $3 million in funds for 18 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages to document, preserve, and revitalize Native languages.

Reservation State Amount
Cherokee Nation Oklahoma $200,000
Citizen Potawatomi Nation Oklahoma $200,066
Comanche Nation Oklahoma $169,443
Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana Louisiana $198,559
Douglas Indian Association Alaska $199,645
Forest County Potawatomi Community Wisconsin $189,326
Hydaburg Cooperative Association Alaska $188,430
Igiugig Village Alaska $138,088
Lummi Tribe Washington $168,969
Makah Indian Tribe Washington $73,156
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Massachusetts $200,000
Rosebud Sioux Tribe South Dakota $199,829
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Arizona $64,700
Skokomish Indian Tribe Washington $185,319
Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation California $131,858
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Colorado $191,570
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska Nebraska $100,717
Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation California $200,000

Additional Information

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