Northland Foundation grants $5,000 to seven Native leaders
Seven Indigenous leaders from Duluth to Laporte each received $5,000 for Ojibwe language, healing and cultural projects across St. Louis County.
Seven Native American community leaders each received $5,000 through Northland Foundation’s Maada’ookiing program, with projects stretching from Duluth to Two Harbors, Grand Portage and Laporte. The spring 2026 awards backed work in art, wellness, traditional craftwork, Native language, belonging and connection, putting flexible dollars into projects rooted in local Native leadership rather than large institutions.
Maada’ookiing means “the distribution” in Ojibwemowin. The program was created by a Native American-led design team and guided by an advisory board of Native nation representatives and other Native American community members. The grants are open to individuals or small groups, not nonprofit organizations or Tribal governments, and applications are accepted year-round with deadlines on February 15, May 15 and September 15. Northland increased the cap from $2,500 to $5,000 in June 2024 as grantees faced higher costs for supplies, space and transportation.
Among the Duluth recipients, Caitlyn Taylorm received $5,000 to support events that create healing spaces for the Fond du Lac Reservation community through art, culture and wellness. Laura Winter got funding for an Ojibwe language literacy program aimed at early readers, Hannah Smith was funded for pucker toe-style moccasin making classes, and Khayman Goodsky received support for a short film highlighting Indigenous talent in Duluth. Carl Gawboy of Two Harbors was awarded money to restore and republish 105 original Wanigan comics with 25 new strips and annotation, Donovan Dahmen of Grand Portage received support for an art project and community gathering centered on Anishinaabeg spiritual teachings, and Janelle Johnson of Laporte was funded to study Ojibwe concepts tied to emotions and mindfulness.
The program launched in May 2021 and had reached 132 grants totaling nearly $440,000 by May 26, 2026. Northland puts the share of philanthropic resources going to Native Americans in the United States at less than 0.3%.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
