I volunteered to share about our group because it brings me joy. My intention is to describe this experience from a shared perspective as the result of ongoing conversations and knowledge exchanges in Denendeh, in the Yup’ik region of Alaska, in Northern, Inari and Skolt Sápmi and later this year in Kalaallit Nunaat. The Arctic Indigenous Fund (AIF) is a relatively new collective which seeks to transform philanthropy across the Circumpolar North. Comprised of 100% Indigenous advisors and staff, we were formed in 2018 and essentially started from scratch to decide how philanthropic funding should be distributed in ways that best support the needs of the regions where we ourselves were raised and choose to live and work. We seek to connect the past experiences of our own families and home community’s history directly with what we want to perpetuate for our descendants into the future. We recognize the interdependence and interconnectedness of our peoples across families, cultures, and regions of the world.
Volunteer advisors from Inuit, Northern Dene and Sámi communities work with the Arctic Funders Collaborative, where AIF is currently housed, in Northwest Territories, Canada. We rely on broad-based Indigenous approaches to this work since we come from across Alaskan, Canadian, Greenlandic and Northern European regions, each with our own distinct beliefs, cultural practices and communication styles. We acknowledge the interwoven history that includes interests that actively work to destroy Indigenous ways of life, those who actively uplift the dignity and honor of Indigenous lifeways, and others somewhere else along the spectrum. This requires an ongoing constant process of filtering things out based upon our individual and collective value system and beliefs. We can apply teachings from one set of experiences to another and begin to uphold a holistic worldview.
AIF is kinship-based, just like many of our local Indigenous communities. We treat each other like family. As a group we have agreed to ensure that everyone in the discussion feels heard. We facilitate our meetings ourselves with a rotation of AIF staff and advisors. When we aren’t sure how to reach consensus on an issue, we might ask ourselves “what would my aunt/uncle/grandparent/local Elder back home do?”, or not, make a decision and move forward. We promote free prior and informed consent, and safe spaces to share and learn together. Whenever we might encounter an “oops, ouch!” moment with one another, we address the issue head on and work towards a resolution. This approach directly ties to the policies, activities, and partnerships that we create for the fund.
Together we can then map out specific goals and actions tied to our vision:
- Our communities thrive when making decisions for themselves on their own terms;
- Our lands and waters have the power to heal us;
- We treat each other and our partners with respect, patience and kindness.
True partnership means that we work together to be flexible, knowledgeable and transparent as we support Indigenous peoples across movements, Nations and borders. We are very grateful to our sisters and brothers at the Pawakna Fund and The International Funders for Indigenous Peoples (IFIP) who have supported the AIF by offering guidance and encouragement in our nascent stage, and open lines of communication between ourselves and our founding Director Itoah Scott-Enns (Tłı̨chǫ), as well as our current Director Liz Liske (Tetsot’ine). Quyaana! Enaa Baasee’! Masicho! Naqurmiik! Qujanaq! Ollu Giitu! Thank you!
AIF Year 1 (2019-2020) theme for funding was “Healing through Language.” Year 2 theme (2020-2021) for funding is “Indigenous Youth” and a call for applications will be released very soon.
Read more about our work and connect with us at: https://www.arcticfunders.com/arctic-indigenous-fund
About the Author
Kk’ołeyo se’ooze’. Tl’eeyegge Hʉt’aan eslaanh. Bedzeyh Te Hʉt’aan eslaanh. Tlaa’ologhe hʉts’enh ts’aadaanselet dehoon Fairbanks lesdo. Se’ot Nekkon’ be’ooze’. Sedenaa’ Telele be’ooze’. Denaakk’e hedohʉdege’eh dehoon hedo’k’ʉhʉdeł’eeghenh. Uvaƞa Putyuk. Aƞayuukaaka Dee Olin-lu David Hoffman-lu. Tinaaġmiuġuruƞa. Atqasugiksuaq aniruƞa. Nuliaġa Kunaq. Paniġa Iƞmaġana. Ilisaniaqtuƞa Iñupiatun. My name is Dewey Hoffman and I am a current Arctic Indigenous Fund Advisor. I am Northern Dene and Swiss-American from Ruby, Alaska. My Denaakk’e (Koyukon Athabascan) name Kk’ołeyo means “walking” and my Iñupiaq name Putyuk means “pinch.” I live in Fairbanks with my partner Marjorie Kunaq Nekkon’ Tahbone, and our daughter Telele Iŋmaġana. I am learning to speak Koyukon Athabascan and Iñupiaq Eskimo with my family.
