Native American Women Warriors (NAWW)

Indigenous Tomorrows Fund – SEED Tier ($25,000)

Youth Auxiliary Program Proposal

Organization Overview

Native American Women Warriors (NAWW) is a Native-led grassroots organization dedicated to uplifting, empowering, and supporting Native American women, veterans, youth, and families through culture, leadership, wellness, education, and community engagement. Our work is deeply rooted in Indigenous values, inter-generational relationships, and the belief that Native youth deserve spaces where they are seen, heard, supported, and empowered to thrive.

NAWW is applying under the SEED Tier ($25,000) because our Youth Auxiliary Program is in its early stages of development, but the community need and grassroots work are already present. The program is community-embedded and youth-centered, and this funding would allow us to formally establish and sustain the infrastructure needed to support Native girls ages 15–22 across our region.

Question 1: The Work and Where It Lives in the Garden

Native American Women Warriors identifies as a BEANS organization because our work is rooted in the connection between multiple Indigenous Tomorrows Fund focus areas, creating a holistic approach to supporting Native youth and community well being. Our Youth Auxiliary Program weaves together several of the ITF bundles through culturally grounded mentorship, leadership development, healing, and inter-generational connection. Our program brings together:

1. Maintaining the Life Cycle of Balance
2. Inter-generational Knowledge & Relationships
3. Healing
4. Building Power & Activating Abundance

The Youth Auxiliary Program will serve approximately 30 Native American girls between the ages of 10–18 years old through culturally grounded mentorship, leadership development, wellness programming, educational support, and community engagement opportunities. The program is designed to create a safe and empowering environment where Native girls can strengthen their identities, build confidence, improve wellness, and develop leadership skills rooted in Indigenous values.

Through this initiative, youth participants will:

1. Receive academic encouragement and mentorship
2. Participate in physical fitness and wellness activities that is hosted by NAWW
3. Attend powwows, color guard events, ceremonies, and cultural gatherings
4. Learn leadership, teamwork, and civic responsibility
5. Engage with Native women veterans, Elders, and community leaders
6. Build positive peer relationships grounded in Indigenous identity and pride
7. Participate in cultural teachings, storytelling, traditional arts, and community service

Our work reflects the ITF vision that cultural access, healing, and youth leadership are inseparable from community well being. The program intentionally creates opportunities for Native girls to see themselves as future leaders, culture carriers, and strong Indigenous women.

The work is also deeply inter-generational. Native women veterans, mothers, grandmothers, and community mentors will work directly alongside youth participants, helping restore connections between generations that have historically been disrupted by displacement and systemic barriers. This directly aligns with ITF’s emphasis on weaving together youth, adults, and Elders to strengthen communities.

If any one of these dimensions were removed, the work would lose its strength. Without cultural grounding, the program becomes disconnected from identity. Without healing and wellness, youth support remains incomplete. Without leadership and empowerment, youth cannot fully step into their future roles within the community. The intersection itself is the intervention.

Our community already recognizes the need for this work. Families consistently express concern about Native youth isolation, lack of culturally safe spaces, low self-esteem, and limited opportunities for Native girls to gather in positive, empowering environments. NAWW has already begun responding informally through mentorship, cultural participation, and youth involvement at community events. This funding would allow us to formally plant and grow this program so it can sustainably serve Native youth for years to come.

Question 2: Youth in the Work

Youth are not simply participants in this work — they are the reason the work exists.

The NAWW Youth Auxiliary Program is designed specifically to support Native girls during formative years when identity, belonging, confidence, and wellness are critically important. Youth will actively help shape the direction of the program through youth councils, feedback circles, activity planning, and peer leadership opportunities. Older youth participants will mentor younger participants, helping create a cycle of leadership and accountability within the program itself.

Youth involvement will include:

1. Helping choose activities and cultural events
2. Leading service projects and community outreach
3. Participating in leadership development opportunities
4. Serving as youth ambassadors at powwows and community gatherings
5. Assisting with color guard participation and ceremonial events
6. Supporting peer mentorship and team-building activities

Youth participation is sustained because the program is relationship-based and culturally grounded. Many Native youth today struggle to find spaces where they feel represented, valued, and connected to their culture. This program addresses that need directly by creating a community where Native girls can build friendships, confidence, and pride in who they are.

NAWW believes that Native youth thrive when they are surrounded by positive Indigenous role models who reflect strength, resilience, service, and cultural pride. Native women veterans and community mentors will provide ongoing guidance and encouragement while also modeling leadership, discipline, and community responsibility.

If youth were removed from this work, the purpose of the program would disappear entirely. The program exists to invest directly in Native girls so they can become healthy, empowered, culturally grounded future leaders. Without youth voices guiding the work, the program would no longer be accountable to the community it was created to serve.

The long-term vision is to help participants grow into confident Indigenous women who understand their cultural identity, value education and wellness, and feel empowered to contribute positively to their communities.

Question 3: Accountability and Ecosystem

Native American Women Warriors are accountable first and foremost to Indigenous communities, families, and youth. This program exists because Native families and community members have repeatedly expressed the need for safe, culturally grounded spaces where Native girls can gather, grow, and feel supported.

Our work is grounded in Indigenous values of:

1. Respect
2. Community responsibility
3. Inter-generational learning
4. Service
5. Cultural preservation
6. Collective healing

We define success not only through numbers, but through the stories, relationships, and transformations we witness within youth and families. Success looks like:

1. Native girls feeling proud of their identity
2. Increased participation in school and community activities
3. Improved confidence and leadership skills
4. Stronger relationships between youth and Elders
5. Youth participating in cultural practices and community events
6. Girls supporting one another through mentorship and friendship

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