Connecting Community Through Maadaoonidiwag (“Sharing Knowledge”)

Photos by Bear Paws Cultural Art

December 13, 2024 by Blandin Foundation Posted in Grants, Rural Placemaking

When Blandin Foundation announced a funding opportunity in 2022 with the specific goal of bringing communities together in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wanetta Thompson, a community artist, entrepreneur and enrolled member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, saw an opportunity.

A past participant in Blandin Foundation’s Reservation Community Leadership Program, Wanetta had seen how others across rural tribal communities were creating spaces for connection and culture. She began to see how she could bring to life her dream of revitalizing Ojibwe cultural heritage, fostering mutual understanding and respect with our neighbors, and facilitating community healing through art. This dream needed life now more than ever.

“The pandemic reminded us just how precious our cultural heritage, traditions and celebrations are. In an instant, we could no longer gather for important cultural social events — like powwows and ceremonies,” explained Wanetta. “And over the course of the pandemic, we lost many community members and elders, and with them went their vast knowledge of ceremony and tradition. It all took a toll on our community members and neighbors.”

Alongside her best friend Lana Oswaldson and her daughter, Laikora Thompson, the trio submitted a proposal that aimed to foster community togetherness and provide future generations an opportunity to explore their artistic talents, develop a sense of identity within their own culture, and help alleviate the effects of generational trauma.

The $150,000 Rural Leadership Boost Grant enabled Wanetta, Lana and Laikora to create community art rooms at rural tribal community centers in Mille Lacs, Hinckley and McGregor, and to facilitate monthly projects open to the entire community and featuring professional cultural education and instruction on a different cultural item – moccasins, ribbon skirts, belts and bells, blankets, beadwork, and drums and sticks. The program is called Maadaoonidiwag, the Ojibwe word for “sharing knowledge.” Each course taught 120 people, and three of the courses — moccasins, ribbon skirts and blankets — included a make one/give one model where participants created their own personal item plus an additional item to be donated to community members without access to cultural regalia.

“We had an individual who was going through ceremony, and she needed moccasins, and one of the participants from our class taught her how to make moccasins so that she could go through ceremony. Accomplishing that was awesome,” Wanetta shared. “I get emotional talking about carrying on our traditions and making sure that our culture stays alive. It’s really what our mission is, to make sure that we continue our tradition through art and that we create, because it’s not just art, it’s about healing. I believe that culture and art is healing.”

Beyond the make one/give one model, program volunteers would use scrap materials from classes to make additional items such as bells, moccasins, ribbon skirts, and loin cloths that were donated at the Mille Lacs and East Lake Traditional Pow Wows. Each class was captured on film to preserve the historical teachings, and the year of projects concluded with a celebratory art show featuring participants’ projects at the East Central Regional Arts Council.

Photos by Bear Paws Cultural Art

Building Individual and Organizational Capacity, Building Community Wealth

What began as one-time grant funding has grown into a full-fledged 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Bear Paws Cultural Art, which received another Rural Placemaking grant from Blandin Foundation in 2024 to continue and evolve its cultural and educational arts programming.

The formation of a new nonprofit wasn’t necessarily the intended or desired outcome of the initial grant, nor did Wanetta, Lana or Laikora have nonprofit administrative experience before they began offering Maadaoonidiwag. But the need for and success of the programming revealed opportunity within the community for a more permanent placemaking and wealth-building opportunity.

In addition to the Blandin leadership program and two rounds of grant funding, Wanetta and her team received support from the Little Falls-based Initiative Foundation, which works to empower people throughout Central Minnesota to build a thriving economy, vibrant communities and a lasting culture of generosity.

“What began with fiscal agency and incorporation counsel for Wanetta and her team evolved to include additional capacity-building support through our Vibrant and Equitable Communities program,” explained Zach Tabatt, vice president for economic opportunity at the Initiative Foundation. “Today, she’s an Initiators Fellow experiencing comprehensive programming, executive-level mentoring and leadership training to advance her nonprofit endeavors. This is the kind of nonprofit development work we’re proud to support.”

According to Kyle Erickson, director of rural grantmaking at Blandin Foundation, the work that this initial Boost Grant funded went off just as you would hope it to; from and of and for community. “Bear Paws Cultural Art spun out from this work and is now a community-centered asset. What could have started and ended with a series of meaningful community events is now woven into the fabric of the community.”

Addressing Rural Disparities through Collaboration

The intergenerational and cross-cultural knowledge sharing inherent in this grant work is a demonstration of rural placemaking and community wealth building, two principle focus areas for Blandin Foundation.

“Bolstering creativity, culture and opportunities to come together helps us feel connected, invested and proud of where we live, and the ‘make one/give one’ model of Wanetta’s work generates ripples far beyond the art room,” Kyle added. “Building rural bases of entrepreneurship, investment and knowledge, including vital cultural knowledge, keeps wealth in all its forms close to home.”

Investing in rural is critical. Rural entities receive only five percent of philanthropic dollars, with Native entities receiving less than one percent. Meanwhile, government funding formulas are 40 years old and weighted against rural. Creative and collaborative capacity building is needed now more than ever to address population declines and stagnation at the same time that rural diversity is increasing.

“If Blandin didn’t provide rural grant opportunities, we likely wouldn’t have gotten off the ground,” Wanetta shared. “Because when we apply for Native-focused grants, we are often competing globally. But with Blandin, it’s home. It’s community. We need that. Not just Bear Paws. All of us.”