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Indian Land Tenure Foundation Receives Major Funding
From National Rural Funders Collaborative
April 16, 2007
Five regional initiatives, including the Twin Cities-based Indian Land Tenure
Foundation, will receive major funding from the National Rural Funders
Collaborative (NRFC) to build or enhance their regional economies, foster
long-term community change, and address the disparities of race, class and power
that cause and reinforce persistent poverty.
"All of these initiatives are demonstrating innovative ways to build or
strengthen new economic sectors, expand philanthropic or public sector
investment, and connect to other strategic efforts in their region," said Jim
Richardson, NRFC executive director. "Our goal in funding these demonstration
projects is to highlight and support their work and advance the development of
approaches and best practices that can be replicated in rural regions across the
country."
Indian Land Tenure Foundation and the Native American Community Development
Corporation are working to move Native American reservations in Montana and
Wyoming toward economic sovereignty and self-determination through facilitated
community meetings and the creation and implementation of action plans to
achieve community goals. This process includes education and mentoring around
financial education, land acquisition, home ownership and small business
development. Financial literacy and development training and mentoring will help
tribal members implement and build on their action-plan strategies, and sustain
their efforts into the future.
A goal of the initiative is to assist the tribes in creating alternative rural
economies that are built on cultural and land assets, and then connect them to
mainstream economies outside of the reservations. By regaining the control and
productive use of land, financial and cultural assets, tribes can overcome their
historic isolation from other non-Indian communities in their region, and begin
to participate in and benefit from the larger economy.
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