Reclaiming Philanthropy: Re-centering Native Giving in Respect, Relationships, Reciprocity, and Communal Responsibility

Abstract

My research grounds itself in examining the fields of institutional philanthropy and Native philanthropy as a means of providing some context for why this area of study is important and to understand the limitations of different types of funding. In tracing the divergent histories of these major areas of philanthropy, I reveal the embedded philosophies, values, and ways in which power operates through their structures in the forms of eligibility criteria, grant-making policies, types of funding available, and how accountability is defined. It is my belief that we must first build a better understanding of the funding ecosystem if we are to truly support the critical work that Native communities are undertaking in their cultural resurgence efforts. I also believe that most of the work needs to be done within the philanthropic sector to radically change its core beliefs and practices so that more money is available to Black and Indigenous communities as forms of reparations and restorative justice. This alone is justification for dramatically increasing the amount of funding that goes towards supporting Native communities from less than .5% to an amount that is a just and proportional to our surviving percentage of the population. Finally, my research retraces and reclaims those traditional practices within Native American communities and examine that in contrast to what modern philanthropy has become. What can we learn by re-centering traditional practices of philanthropy? Ultimately, my driving question that I explore in this dissertation is: How do we reimagine philanthropy as reparations to Black and Indigenous communities, at whose expense the wealth of the United States was built upon through the theft of Native lands and the exploitation of Black labor?