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Posts Tagged ‘grant’

To Revitalize Indigenous Languages

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on April 13, 2026| 2 Comments »

Photo: Newberry Library.
This image from the Newberry Library in Chicago represents the clans of the ogimaag (chiefs) of the Lake Superior bands of Ojibwe. The clans are shown united at a time when they were petitioning the US government to revise treaty boundaries set in 1842. 

In Chicago, there’s a library with an impressive indigenous studies collection, of which the art above is an example. I have never seen anything like it, a charming illustration of tribal chiefs, their individual symbols, and their collaboration to deal with the US government. It is in the Newberry Library.

Courtney Kueppers reported recently for WBEZ about the library and a $4 million grant “from the Mellon Foundation that will help widen access to Indigenous languages, some of which have been on the brink of disappearance.

“The research library holds roughly 2,400 items directly related to more than 300 different Indigenous languages as part of its vast Indigenous Studies collections, which include more than one million manuscript pages, 11,000 photographs and 2,000 maps.

“Right now, only a small percentage of that is available digitally, which can pose a barrier to tribal nations and scholars. Part of the new grant funding will focus on making more of the collection available on Newberry’s website, with a specific focus on language-related items.

“ ‘Those are often of major interest to tribal nations who are working on language revitalization activities,’ said Rose Miron, Newberry’s vice president for research and education. …

“The loss of Indigenous languages has been called a state of emergency. Many languages were nearly eradicated after the U.S. federal government attempted to force Indigenous people to assimilate in the 19th and 20th centuries through orders that included Native American boarding schools. …

“ ‘Children were literally being punished for speaking their own languages and being forced to speak English instead,’ said Miron, a historian whose area of study has focused on Indigenous history in the Great Lakes region. Now, as many tribal nations focus on revitalizing languages and teaching them again, Miron said items in the Newberry’s collection can play a critical role, especially for nations with no living speakers. …

“The Newberry collection includes Bibles and other religious texts created by missionaries who were attempting to assimilate tribal members by translating those works to Indigenous languages. Among the other linguistic items are boarding school materials that were translated into Dakota. …

“Miron said, ‘I have seen people in the collection weep upon seeing something that is related to their family, or is related to their community that they’ve never seen before.’ …

“In total, Newberry says, more than half the funds will go directly to tribal nations.

“ ‘We fundamentally believe that tribal nations are the best representatives of their own history,’ said Miron, adding that the library is also open to repatriating items in its collection.

“The Indigenous collection at the library originated with a donation in 1911 from the wealthy businessman Edward E. Ayer, whom Miron said was an avid collector of books, manuscripts, artwork and publications about different tribal nations. Ayer also endowed the collection, and that has allowed the Newberry to grow the collection over the years and dedicate a librarian to it. …

“The latest round of Mellon funding is an extension of a previous planning grant, which the museum received in 2020. The planning process resulted in the ‘Indigenous Chicago‘ project, which looks to provide information and resources on Chicago’s historic and modern-day Indigenous communities. It includes interactive online maps that reinterpret Chicago’s history from Native American perspectives.

“The project comes amid other recent local efforts to better recognize Indigenous people and their culture. A new partnership between the American Indian Center of Chicago and the Forest Preserve of Kane County led to the introduction of a new bison herd, bringing the animals to the local tallgrass prairie for the first time in 200 years. The center will steward the herd.”

More at WBEZ, here. If you live in Chicago or visit, try to give us a firsthand account of the library.

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Paying Homeowners to House the Homeless

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on May 17, 2018| 6 Comments »

Photo: Kol Peterson
Los Angeles will pay homeowners who are willing to house pre-screened homeless families by creating “granny flats,” like this accessory dwelling unit over a garage in Portland, Oregon.

I like stories on creative ways cities are trying to tackle homelessness. These initiatives may seem like a drop in the bucket, but some may actually work well over time and help alleviate the effects of our extreme inequality. You have to start somewhere. After all, the homeless population includes working families unable to make ends meet on their wages.

As Vanessa Romo wrote at National Public Radio last month, “In an attempt to alleviate the soaring homelessness problem in Los Angeles County, officials want to pay homeowners to house people by building new living units or bringing existing dwellings up to code if they are in violation.

“It’s part of a $550,000 pilot program launched by the LA Community Development Commission to explore new ways to safely and at a relatively low cost, provide housing options for handful of the county’s nearly 60,000 homeless residents.

“The county Board of Supervisors has narrowed down the pool of applicants from 500 to 27 and is in the final stages of selecting a group of six property owners who are ready and willing to start construction in the fall, according to the LA Times. The county is also leading a design competition for model secondary dwelling units.

“Officials will consider whether to expand the program after 18 months. …

” ‘People are looking at what they can do to make our neighborhoods more affordable and help more Angelenos find stable places to live,’ LA Mayor Eric Garcetti told the Times.

“Garcetti has been urging property owners to build secondary units, or ‘granny flats’ as they’re often called, in their backyards for years. He estimated it could create 50,000 more units if only 10 percent of homeowners would take on the challenge. …

“The Times also reported ‘the loan principal will be reduced each year the unit is occupied by a formerly homeless person and forgiven after 10 years, at which point the homeowners can do as they wish with the housing.’ …

“Los Angeles is only the latest county trying to take on the nation’s homelessness crisis by inducing property owners to provide affordable housing.

“Multnomah County in Oregon started a similar project last summer where four homeowners agreed to have a small unit built on their lot and pledged to provide housing for pre-screened homeless candidates for at least five years.”

More.

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