The recent renovation of the Caguana Indigenous Ceremonial Center in Puerto Rico, led by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (ICP), highlights the innovative role state arts agencies are playing in cultural heritage preservation. As the Caribbean’s most significant Taíno archaeological site, Caguana safeguards the legacy of the Indigenous cultures that thrived in the region…
Mass Cultural Council has created a suite of plans that focus on different under-resourced communities in Massachusetts. Recent releases included a deaf and disability plan and a Native American and tribal relations plan. The Universe Is My Regalia, a painting by Erin Genia. Image courtesy of Erin Genia and Mass Cultural…
Chief Wilma Mankiller, by Starr Hardridge, Muscogee, from the Oklahoma State Capitol Art Collection. Photo by the Oklahoma Legislative Service Bureau, courtesy of the Oklahoma Arts Council Thirty-eight federally recognized tribes reside within Oklahoma’s state borders and account for nearly 13% of the state’s population. To serve this population—which is culturally and historically significant to…
State arts agencies are increasingly cultivating partnerships with their state departments of natural resources. These cross-sector collaborations can promote public access to the arts and employment opportunities for artists while also boosting public enjoyment of park lands. Arts in the parks programs strengthen the connections between natural and cultural resources, encouraging both healthier living and…
The Talabwogh Men Stick Dancers perform at the 2024 Flame Tree Arts Festival. Photo courtesy of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Department of Community and Cultural Affairs The Flame Tree Arts Festival is one of the most significant events held in the Northern Mariana Islands. Led by the Commonwealth Council for Arts and…
Wisconsin is unique in that a state statute mandates the disbursement of arts grant funds to Native communities, funded by a portion of the state’s gaming compacts with the 11 federally recognized tribal nations. The Wisconsin Arts Board (WAB) administers this program. A Woodland Indian Arts grant supports the Oneida Nation Arts Program’s Music from…
The Utah Division of Arts & Museums (UA&M) has facilitated efforts to develop and implement curriculum modules that educate Utah students and teachers about the state’s tribes through the arts. Relying on their well-established relationship with Brigham Young University (BYU), UA&M advocated for and financially supported the BYU ARTS Partnership as they launched the Native…
Partnering with an organization that is both trusted and highly networked in the Native community can help to facilitate access to state resources. This strategy is exemplified by a partnership between the North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA) and Sacred Pipe Resource Center. A custom star quilt made by Eternal Bloom Blankets. Photo courtesy…
In the 1860s, Fort Sumner, New Mexico, was the center of a million-acre land parcel known as the Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation. During that era, the U.S. Army used scorched-earth policies to forcibly remove 10,000 Diné (Navajo) and Ndé (Mescalero Apache) people from their traditional homelands and confine them to this isolated outpost along the…
Many tribal leaders and liaisons that NASAA interviewed through the Strengthening State Arts Agency Relationships with Tribal Communities initiative emphasized the importance of training as an important action step for state government employees. The state of Minnesota has placed a strong emphasis on that strategy. Minnesota statutes acknowledge that “The state of Minnesota and Minnesota…
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