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Michigan Tech is one of the institutions benefiting from the Native American Heritage Fund.
The university will receive over $30,000 for a partnership project with the Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College to co-create curricula.
The NAHF continues to be a unique, one-of-a-kind initiative that assists Michigan’s K-12 schools, colleges, universities,
and local units of government with the costs of projects that promote positive relationships and accurate information
about the history and role of Michigan’s Indian tribes and Native Americans in the state.
The 2018 grants approved include:
1. Belding Area Schools – $334,690.60 to support the replacement of equipment, apparel and signage following
the revision of the school’s mascot from Redskins to Black Knights.
2. City of Battle Creek – $3,377.50 to assist with removal and replacement of a stained glass window medallion
in City Hall.
3. City of Kalamazoo – $76,765 to assist with the removal of the Fountain of Pioneers and site improvements at
Bronson Park.
4. Bay de Noc Community College in Escanaba – $2,013 for The Living Circle of Life project.
5. Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie – $10,000 for an education initiative to increase local tribal
imagery on campus and implement cultural events.
6. Michigan Technological University in Houghton – $30,488 for a partnership project with Keweenaw Bay
Ojibwa Community College to co-create curricula.
7. Suttons Bay Public Schools – $12,500 to the Friendship Community Center/LIFT Teen Center to expand hours
and create new programming for the only local afterschool program for sixth through 12th grade youth, with 70
percent demographic consisting of Native American students.
The NAHF was established in 2016 as part of the Second Amendment to the Tribal-State Gaming Compact between the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi (NHBP) and the State of Michigan. The amendment allowed for a portion of NHBP’s annual state revenue sharing payment to be deposited into the NAHF.
The fund serves to promote positive relationships between public and private K-12 schools, colleges, universities, local units of government and Michigan’s federally recognized Native American Tribes. The NAHF provides resources to help improve curricula and educational resources related to Michigan Indian history, as well as to replace or revise mascots and imagery that may be deemed as offensive to or inaccurately conveying the culture and values of Native Americans.
