FORD FOUNDATION BACKS NEW ORGANIZATION TO SUPPORT NATIVE ARTS

A new foundation to support the work of American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native artists is being established with an initial ten million dollars from the Ford Foundation, reports Robin Pogrebin in the New York Times_. Called the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, the organization, formally opened yesterday, says it will be the first permanently endowed national foundation of its kind.

The foundation, which will start with an annual operating budget of five hundred thousand dollars and a staff of four, hopes to provide about four million dollars in grants and program services over the next five years. The organization is to be based in Portland, Oregon, and recently selected Tara Lulani Arquette, a Native Hawaiian, as its president and chief executive. “In a sense, it’s part of our quest for self-determination and restoring our sovereignty,” Arquette said in an telephone interview.

She acknowledged the challenge of starting a new foundation in the current economic downturn. “The mission of the foundation can’t be accomplished in one year or even five years,” Arquette said. “But there is a sense of urgency. Our elders—our wisdom keepers—are passing away in large numbers.”