7 Ways to Support Indigenous Causes
Native peoples benefit from less than half a percent of philanthropic dollars. Here are some of our favorite nonprofits that focus on uplifting and protecting Natives. Click on each to read more or donate.
Supports Native artist-entrepreneurs and culture bearers
"Our mission is to honor and support the Collective Spirit © of First Peoples artists and culture bearers. Our work recognizes the power of art and culture to bring about positive change in Native communities, beginning with individual artists and their families.
First Peoples Fund is a Native-led non-profit that provides direct funding, resources, and professional development to Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native artists, culture bearers, and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI)."
Incubator Indigenous peoples focused on arts and activism
"[Our mission is] dedicated to building, supporting and cultivating opportunities for Native, Black, Brown and Indigenous peoples through cultural arts and activism...
Indigenous Roots with artists, cultural groups, residents, businesses and organizations in Dakota land area known as Kap’ óža (Dayton’s Bluff Neighborhood) and the City of Saint Paul recognize and are working together to develop the 7th Street Cultural Corridor and the Intercultural Mural Corridor also known as the Intertribal Cultural Corridor. "
Holds programs for Native peoples embracing teachings of our ancestors
"[Our Mission is] to promote the well-being of Native people through programs and trainings that embrace the teachings and traditions of our ancestors."
Education and advocacy focused on women
"Our mission is to stop violence against Native women and children by advocating for social change in our communities.
Organized in 1996 by three founding Native women, Peggy Bird (Kewa), Darlene Correa (Laguna Pueblo) and Genne James (Navajo), the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women (CSVANW) was created to provide support to other Native advocates working in domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, stalking and sex trafficking in New Mexico’s tribal communities."
Native-led organization working to empower native communities
"Spirit of the Sun’s mission is to work in partnership with Native American communities in urban areas and on reservations to boost the resilience of Native people, especially youth and young adults.
Our vision is that the Native youth of today become the next generation of Native leaders, entrepreneurs, and skilled professionals who will help guide their communities toward wellness, prosperity, and cultural revitalization."
Unites native women to share stories while reconnecting with nature
"Native Women's Wilderness was created to bring Native women together to share our stories, support each other, and learn from one another as we endeavor to explore and celebrate the wilderness and our native lands.
[Our mission is to] inspire and raise the voices of Native Women in the Outdoor Realm. To encourage a healthy lifestyle within the Wilderness. To provide education of the Ancestral Lands and its People."
Focuses on education and advocacy focusing on youth
"The Center for Native American Youth (CNAY) at the Aspen Institute is a national education and advocacy organization that works alongside Native youth—ages 24 and under—on reservations, in rural villages and urban spaces across the country to improve their health, safety, and overall well- being. All Native youth deserve to lead full and healthy lives, have equal access to opportunity, draw strength from Native culture, and inspire one another. At CNAY, this is achieved through empowerment and culturally-competent methodologies that include leadership, youth-led policy agenda, and youth-led narrative.
Our mission at the Center for Native American Youth, as an education and advocacy organization, is to improve the health, safety, and overall well-being of Native American Youth."