Newsletter: May 2019

Greetings everyone, I hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness. Here at the Chamiza Foundation we are getting prepared to do our second round of grant awards for the year. The deadline to apply is May 17, 2019. Our board will be meeting on Friday, June 28, 2019 to determine who will be funded.  If you have any questions about how to submit your application, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. You can now apply directly online through our website. Please be aware that when you start the process you cannot stop and save your application, you must start and finish in one sitting. So please have all your documents that you will need to complete the application on hand. You can also still download the application from our website as well. I look forward to seeing many great applications for our next round of funding. If you have a project or program idea that you need help developing please feel free to contact me.

Throughout the month of March and April, I have been busy participating in several meetings, conferences and summits that are specific to our Pueblo communities. I have been able to make some great connections on behalf of the Chamiza Foundation. Connections that will benefit many of our Pueblo communities in regards to project support.

Furthermore, I am currently working on setting up grant writing workshops for our Pueblo communities. This will take place next year. The dates have yet to be determined. We will be having a north workshop (Santa Fe) for our northern Pueblo communities and a south workshop (Albuquerque) for our southern Pueblo communities. If you are extremely interested in participating in a workshop, please contact me and let me know. Wishing you all the best!

Sincerely,

Amanda J. Montoya

In the fall of 2018 Zuni Pueblo sent in a proposal to the Chamiza Foundation to ask for assistance with their Zuni Language and Cultural Revitalization Program. The Zuni Tribe intended to use Chamiza Foundation funds to define and clarify Zuni language policies and strengthen all aspects of the Zuni language program, this included developing a uniform template for schools and public districts to use when requesting to institute Zuni language and culture programs and to revise the current Zuni Language curriculum and the development of best practice language teaching strategies. Zuni Pueblo put together a dedicated team to work on updating policies and thus far have been successful in creating a template that works best for Zuni Pueblo.

The Pueblo of Santa Ana submitted a proposal to the Chamiza Foundation board in September of 2018 for a culture revitalization enrichment project. The Chamiza Foundation board chose to support this project. Throughout the year, Santa Ana Pueblo has several community gatherings. It was through these gatherings that the women came together and decided that they wanted to create a space where women could meet to learn the language and learn about the cultural roles and responsibilities of Santa Ana Pueblo females. One of the main goals of these gatherings are to perpetuate Tamayame traditional knowledge and cooking methods across all age groups of women. Thus far the women’s group has been able to meet and learn about specific cooking methods and traditional roles and responsibilities. We at the Chamiza Foundation feel very honored to have assisted these ladies in coming together to exchange and share traditional knowledge that is vital to the experience of a Tamayame woman.

Ohkay Owingeh is one of the six Tewa speaking Pueblos located in northern New Mexico. Though there are six Tewa speaking Pueblos, all six Pueblos are unique and have their own dialect that differs from the other Pueblos. Less than half of the homes in Ohkay Owingeh speak the Tewa language fluently. More than 85% of community members are not fluent in the Tewa language. Of the 15% that are fluent are over the age of 55. The biggest age group of non-fluent tribal members is between 5-18 years of age. Ohkay Owingeh has created the Tewa Language Program to aid in this quandary. The purpose of the Tewa Language Program is to recruit, certify and develop Tewa Language Teachers and to also increase the number of Tewa language speakers. The Tewa Language Program strives to provide classes to all community members in one form or another. Classes were being taught at the Ohkay Owingeh Community Health Representative Building and also at various schools where Ohkay Owingeh tribal members attend. The Ohkay Owingeh Tewa Language Program sent in a proposal to ask for support in conducting these classes. The Chamiza Foundation has been providing support to the Ohkay Owingeh Tewa Language program since 1996.