Other Indigenous Language, Arts and Culture Funding Sources

August 5, 2020

Overview

Below is a list of potential sources of funding for Indigenous language, arts and culture projects outside of what is available through the FPCC.

Prepared By

First Peoples’ Cultural Council

Here is a list of potential sources of funding for indigenous language, arts and culture projects.

Vancouver Foundation
The Vancouver Foundation is a philanthropic non-governmental community foundation. Income derived from the Vancouver Foundation’s investments is distributed to support the activities of charitable organizations across British Columbia.

The Foundation supports a wide range of projects. Funded activities often provide a direct service to the community, or take an innovative approach to a community concern. In considering applications for funding, the Foundation relies on recommendations from Advisory Committees serving in several fields of interest, including Arts and Culture, Children, Youth and Families, Education, and Health and Social Development.

RBC Foundation
RBC Foundation helps communities around the world by funding many different initiatives through donations and sponsorships.

Victoria Foundation
The Victoria Foundation has a long and valued history of helping, supporting and investing in our region. With close connections to the non-profit sector, They provide grants in five key areas:

  • Arts, Culture and Heritage
  • Community Services
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Health and Recreation

The Healing Fund (United Church of Canada)
In September 1995, representatives from Native United Church congregations met to set criteria and guidelines for the disbursal of money raised through the Healing Fund. Fourteen people from First Nations communities across Canada considered the goals and purpose of The Healing Fund and established how they would handle their responsibilities to further the healing already begun.

The Healing Fund is intended to support grassroots projects that are First Nations-initiated, and community-oriented, with a primary focus on healing from the impact of residential schools. Language recovery and cultural recovery programs are among the types of projects funded.

BC First Nations Head Start Program
The BC First Nations Head Start Program aims to enhance child development and school readiness of First Nations preschool children by providing a holistic program to meet their emotional, spiritual, physical and intellectual needs. The six program components include culture and language, education, health promotion, nutrition, social support and parental involvement.

The program encourages the development of locally controlled projects in Aboriginal communities that strive to instill a sense of pride and a desire for lifelong learning; provide parenting skills and improve family relationships; foster emotional and social development, and increase confidence. The program also helps parents enhance skills which contribute to their child’s healthy development.

Related Links:
First Nations Health Authority – Head Start on Reserve
Aboriginal Head Start Association of British Columbia

First Nations and Urban Aboriginal Early Childhood Development Reinvestment Initiative
The First Nations Confederacy of Cultural Education Centres (FNCCEC) is a unified voice that leads in the preservation and maintenance of First Nations’ languages, cultures and traditions. It is a national association which advocates on behalf of Cultural Centres and programs funded by the CECP. With a national office in Ottawa, Ontario and a head office located on the Kitigan Zibi Anishnabeg First Nation, Quebec, the FNCCEC provides technical support and program delivery to its member centres. The FNCCEC also develops projects of interest and value to its membership. In addition, the FNCCEC is involved with public education initiatives such as cultural awareness. The Association is directed by a national Board of Governors who are representatives from each region and territory.

First Nations Confederacy of Cultural Education Centres
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) is a federal agency that promotes and supports university-based research and training in the social sciences and humanities. SSHRC’s grants and fellowships allow researchers to explore, invent and develop expertise in a wide variety of disciplines, as well as to target research to specific social needs. SSHRC programs also provide support for research training and research communication activities.

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
Community or non-profit organizations may be eligible to apply to one or more SSHRC programs. Many of these programs support research partnerships between Aboriginal community organizations and university-based researchers to study issues of concern to Aboriginal peoples.

Endangered Language Fund
The Endangered Language Fund is devoted to:

  • the scientific study of endangered languages,
  • the support of native efforts to maintain endangered languages, and
  • the dissemination, to both the native communities and the scholarly world, of the fruits of these efforts.

The fund supports efforts originated by aboriginal communities, or by scholars planning to work with a language. Each year, the fund accepts proposals for work such as preserving aboriginal language texts or preparing language instructional videos.

Foundation for Endangered Languages
The Foundation for Endangered Languages works to raise awareness of endangered languages and support their use in all contexts: at home, in education, in the media, and in social, cultural and economic life. The Foundation supports the documentation of endangered languages by offering financial assistance, training, and/or facilities for publication, and collects and shares useful information about the preservation of endangered languages.

The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project
The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project (HRELP) was set up with a donation of £20 million from the Lisbet Rausing Charitable Fund to document as many endangered languages as possible in order to facilitate the preservation of culture and knowledge. Based at an international centre for the study of language and cultures at the University of London in England, HRELP distributes research grants for the documentation and digital archiving of endangered languages, and the dissemination of information about them. How to Apply

Documentation Programme

Archiving Programme

Documentation of Endangered Languages – funded by the Volkswagen Foundation
The Volkswagen Foundation aims to identify new and significant areas of research, as well as to make contributions toward resolving existing issues. There is a continuous focus on topics and issues which may otherwise be receiving too little attention from the government or other research funding institutions. The Foundation focusses its efforts on selected funding initiatives, including the Documentation of Endangered Languages.

The Volkswagen Foundation hopes that this funding initiative will contribute towards stemming the loss of endangered languages. Systematic documentation is urgently needed. The program not only pertains to documentation, but also to developing and testing new methods of researching, processing and archiving linguistic and cultural data.

Documenting Endangered Languages Project
This funding partnership between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) supports projects to develop and advance knowledge concerning endangered human languages.