Community Spirit Award Honoree Marie Meade
Image of Native artist and performers from the stage production of We The Peoples Before at the Kennedy Center.
Three Kanaka Maoli traditional dancers on stage at the Kennedy Center.

Knowing,
Honoring & Sharing

We support the cultural, artistic and ancestral practices of American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian artists, families and communities, helping them to thrive, heal and carry forward Indigenous creative expression, teachings and lifeways.

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A group of 31 Native artists and culture bearers standing on a stair case smiling for the photo. Photograph from the 2016 Fellowship Convening.

Our family of artists & culture bearers

First Peoples Fund's family of artists is composed of thousands of Native artists and culture bearers from across the country who practice in a variety of creative mediums. They are often the creative lifeblood of their communities, carrying ideas, knowledge and memories of their people.

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A collage of Native Performing Artists overlaying a pattern of vibrant blocks of color.

Native Performing Arts
Program

The Native Performing Arts Program is designed to support Native performing artists—emerging and established—in developing and enhancing their artistic skills and knowledge.

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Native artist, Richard D. York (Citizen of the Cherokee Nation) painting in his studio.

Yéigo
action grant

This program offers grants for individual Native artists and culture bearers who are in need of quick financial assistance for an artistic opportunity, emergency situation and/or sudden unanticipated expense related to their art practice or business.

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Exterior photograph of the Oglala Lakota Artspace art studios. The focal point of the image is a vortex sculpture made out of steel symbolizing aspects of Lakota Star Knowledge. Behind the sculpture is a mural on the wall.

The Oglala Lakota Artspace (OLA) is an arts facility on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Kyle, South Dakota. Completed in 2021, the Native-run program is administered by Oglala Lakota Artspace LLC, a partnership between Artspace, Lakota Funds, and First Peoples Fund.

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A hand gripping a microphone with a dark background.

Wicahpi Olowan (WO) Music Program based in Kyle, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Reservation, is a vibrant initiative that supports Indigenous artists. Through free workshops, concerts, jam sessions, and more, aspiring and existing musicians, singers, songwriters, and producers can thrive.

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Our Research

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts exterior. The subject of the image is a procession of First Peoples Fund family and friends walking into the Kennedy Center.
"We The Peoples Before" logotype. Orange sans-serif font. All caps.

First Peoples Fund’s 25th Anniversary and Celebration of Native Cultural Expression and Sovereignty at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

A Recap of We the Peoples Before

Thank you for your ongoing support of First Peoples Fund and for celebrating our 25th anniversary, We the Peoples Before. Whether you joined us in person or celebrated from afar, we have a recap of the weekend and we’re pleased to share that with you.
A faint picture of the stage production of We The Peoples Before serving as a background for this slide.

We the Peoples Before Stage Production

An innovative, multi-disciplinary stage performance, We The Peoples Before takes us through the past, present and possible future of an lndigenized America. The performance features some of the finest performers and storytellers of our day reframing the country based on a vision of justice and shared humanity.
A faint picture of the stage production of We The Peoples Before serving as a background for this slide.