Shakopee Community details $40M in donations
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community of Minnesota donated more than $40 million to tribes, Indian organizations, educational institutions and charities last year. The tribe’s annual report detailed $16.8 million in grants to 19 tribes. Five tribes in Minnesota each received $1 million donations. Seven other tribes in Nebraska, South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Kansas each received $1 million donations. A Wisconsin tribe received a grant for $966,000.
The tribe donated another $2.1 million to Indian organizations and charities. Recipients included the Tribal Embassy for the National Congress of American Indians, women’s shelters, mental health and chemical dependency programs and medical research. In education, the tribe donated $13.3 million, the bulk of which went to the University of Minnesota for the creation of a tribal plaza at a new stadium and for an Indian scholarship fund.
The College of St. Scholastica gets grant for Ojibwe language and culture program
The College of St. Scholastica was recently given a $1.28 million four-year grant for its Ojibwe Language and Culture Education program.
From the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Indian Education, the grant will support 12 American Indian students interested in teaching and working in American Indian communities. Students in the program major in elementary or secondary education and in Ojibwe language and culture education.
Eligible students are enrolled in a tribe or are descendants of an enrolled member. As a condition of their participation in the program, students must work in areas with high American Indian populations after graduation.
The new grant complements a 2007 five-year grant from the department’s Office of English Language Acquisition that supports a similar project at the school. Only 11 of the grants were given this year.
The program pays for tuition and books and offers a living stipend.
SMSC Donates More than $65,000 to Support Chemical Dependency Prevention Efforts
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community supported a number of programs which help prevent chemical dependency and addiction. The National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Washington, D.C., received an SMSC donation of $25,000. A $10,000 donation went to Petan Wakan Tipi of St. Paul, Minnesota, and Kateri Residence received $10,000. A $5,000 grant went to Rebuild Resources. Minnesota Teen Challenge received $5,000. Ain Dah Ing, Inc. received $5,000, and Project Turnabout of Granite Falls recieved $5,000. Smaller grants were also made to the DARE Bike-a-thon, Sacred Hoop Run 2009, and The City’s Oshki Bug program.
