Acoma Learning Center received a $48184 grant through the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (ATALM) American Rescue Plan: Humanities Grants for Native Institutions. This grant opportunity is intended to help Native Cultural Institutions to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and provide humanities programming to their communities. Funds were provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 passed by the U.S. Congress.
Funds support the Transforming the Humanities through Traditional Acoma Pueblo Practices Project that will increase online engagement and programming in language, culture, tradition, and agriculture. Creating and establishing fundamental partnerships with State, Local, and Tribal entities. The initiative will increase youth and elder collaboration by using the Acoma traditional calendar of the gender responsibility roles of each community and youth participants.
Over the past eight years, the Acoma Learning Center has been a significant component in preserving and building programming around language, culture, tradition, and agriculture. The Pueblo faces unique challenges of predictable and possible loss of language, cultural identity, and agricultural conservation. In 2014, the Learning Center introduced and established its first language-based program offered weekly to the community. From there, it has been ongoing growth to develop, implement, and design programming based on the community's cultural, traditional, and agricultural needs.
“This funding opportunity will assist the Pueblo of Acoma in its recovery from COVID-19. The Pueblo of Acoma is known for its rich history, culture, and language. This grant will help to continue to preserve, plan, and sustain what was lost during the pandemic and preserve our history and way of life,” said Acoma Department of Education Executive Director Dr. Melissa Riley.
“COVID-19 hit Tribal communities particularly hard. The pandemic is not only responsible for the loss of culture keepers, Native language speakers, elders, and government leaders, but also the closure of cultural institutions, furloughed staff, and reduced programming,” said ATALM President Susan Feller. “This opportunity will provide much-needed financial support and create humanities-based programs that bring cultural practitioners and the public together in a dialogue that embraces the civic and cultural life of Native communities.”
Acoma Learning Center was selected by an independent Peer Review Committee and is one out of 84 awardees to receive funding. Other awardees representing 25 states include Tribal governments and Native nonprofit organizations, as well as higher education institutions and non-native nonprofit organizations working in partnership with state or federally recognized tribal entities. A total of $3.26 million was granted. A list of grantees is available at www.atalm.org
“The National Endowment for the Humanities is grateful to the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums for the association’s important work in administering American Rescue Plan funding to help Native American cultural institutions recover from the pandemic,” said NEH Chair Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo). “These grants provide valuable humanities resources to tribal communities and represent a lifeline to the many Native heritage sites and cultural centers that are helping preserve and educate about Indigenous history, traditions, and languages.”
ABOUT THE ACOMA LEARNING CENTER
The Acoma Learning Center is a Tribal Public Library and Computer Center located on the Acoma Pueblo reservation, established in 1996 and recognized as an official public library by the New Mexico State Library in 2006. The Learning Center provides services to enrich the lives of our users through informational, educational, traditional, and recreational programming. The Learning Center's goal is to provide resources and services to help our patrons of all ages. Our commitment is to make sure our patrons learn in a relaxed, safe, well-organized, friendly, and professional atmosphere. We support all students at any academic level, and our staff is devoted to ensuring the core values and vision of the Acoma Learning Center. https://acomalrnctr.wixsit e.com/acomalrnctr
ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other
areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.
ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION OF TRIBAL ARCHIVES, LIBRARIES, AND MUSEUMS
The Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (ATALM) is an international association dedicated to preserving and advancing the language, history, culture, and lifeways of I ndigenous peoples. Founded in 2010, ATALM maintains a network of support for Indigenous cultural programs, provides professional development training, enables collaboration among tribal and non-tribal cultural institutions, and advocates for programs and funding to sustain the cultural sovereignty of Native Nations. To learn more, visit www.atalm.org