Culture Keepers Collective Advisory Council on Loss of NEH Funding
Dear Partners and Friends,
On April 2, we received notice from the Acting Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) that our previously awarded grant Flattening the Curve: Mitigating Cultural Heritage Loss in Wisconsin Native Nations, was terminated effective immediately. The notice stated the project “no longer effectuates the agency’s needs and priorities,” and the funds would be reallocated to advance the current administration’s agenda.
Flattening the Curve was a two-year initiative that funded a full-time Rapid Response Community Archivist to deliver timely, specialized staffing and technical support to Tribal libraries, archives, and museums. Its purpose was to mitigate the loss of critical cultural data and knowledge among Wisconsin Native Nations – work that is essential for ensuring that language, stories, and practices are preserved for future generations.
This project was developed in direct collaboration with, and at the request of, Wisconsin Native Nations. It responded to an urgent need identified by the Culture Keepers Collective to protect at-risk cultural knowledge. The Culture Keepers Collective is a Native-led network, administered by the Wisconsin Library Services (WiLS) that enables knowledge-sharing and resource exchange across institutions. To learn more about the Culture Keepers Collective, click here.
The NEH has been a strong and valued partner! With NEH support, the Culture Keepers Collective has:
- Built a Mukurtu Midwest site, that is focused on providing Tribal communities with a space to create their own community- and protocol-based structures to share their language and cultural materials with their community members and beyond.
- Provided a facilitator for an OCLC digital stewardship lifecycle cohort to help expand digital preservation knowledge and skills among Tribal cultural staff.
- Returned over 500 digital surrogates of materials from non-Tribal repositories to respective Tribal Nations so Indigenous knowledge systems and control returns to the communities.
- Held a POWRR (Preserving Digital Objects with Restricted Resources) Institute for Tribal cultural workers.
- Co-hosted the Culture Keepers Convening, bringing together cultural workers to share ideas and expand their networks and knowledge within Tribal libraries, archives, and museums.
- Supported early-career professionals and graduate students through hands-on experience and mentorship in Indigenous data sovereignty, Mukurtu CMS, and digital stewardship, deepening their understanding of cultural protocols and technical practice.
These are just a few examples of how NEH funding has been put into meaningful action by and for Tribal communities. The Culture Keepers Collective Advisory Council is deeply concerned about the recent decision to place NEH staff on administrative leave and suspend the agency’s operations.
This decision is especially harmful and threatens the future of Tribal archives, libraries, museums, cultural centers, historic preservation offices, and language programs. NEH support has often been the deciding factor between the loss of irreplaceable knowledge and the ability to preserve stories, language, and tradition—matters of identity, survival, and sovereignty.
The termination of the NEH will have lasting consequences. It leaves urgent work unfinished and puts future efforts in jeopardy.
We urge you to take action.
👉 Voice your concerns directly to your elected representatives. Find your elected officials.
👉 The National Humanities Alliance has set up an email form that lets you contact your Members of Congress with one click. Click here for an easy Congressional Contact Form.
👉 Click here to learn more about NEH-funded projects
Thank you for standing with us and with all those who work to protect, preserve, and carry forward the knowledge that shapes who we are. Together, we can ensure that Tribal cultural work continues to thrive.
With gratitude,
The Culture Keepers Collective Advisory Council