Description

Late in January, the first cohort of Indigenous Knowledge Fellows gathered virtually to share what they had accomplished during their fellowship year. All of them had had to revise or adapt their plans when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Most had envisioned traveling for conferences, exhibitions, trainings, etc. Many had planned to lead workshops to share their knowledge with community members. Some had needed access to facilities that closed during the pandemic. Many had needed to meet with elders to learn from them.
The fellows responded with enormous creativity and resourcefulness. Some conducted their workshops on Zoom. Others focused on aspects of their work—like writing or materials harvesting—that could be done alone. Still others shifted gears entirely: the Hawaiian basketmaker, for example, honed his carving skills under the “distanced” mentorship of a Maori master. 
Nonetheless, they all found that progress toward their goals had been compromised by lockdowns and travel limitation. Many also confronted the imminence of knowledge loss as they saw elders fall sick and, in some cases, pass on. These losses brought home the importance of the fellows’ own work as keepers of knowledge—and also made clear the challenges they would face without access to their mentors and knowledge sources. 
In short, the planned work remained unfinished, and the need for it became more urgent. When the fellows met to provide feedback about their experience, they expressed their anxiety. The Pomo weaver, for example, was thrilled with what she was able to accomplish during lockdown; but she recognized that, with the vaccine on the horizon and communities reopening, the demands on her knowledge by her community would grow—at exactly the moment the fellowship support would end. The potter from Ohkay Owingeh who had planned to document the practice and history of pottery in his pueblo confronted the possibility that he had missed his moment to capture the knowledge of an older generation.
A relatively modest supplement of $25,000 to their fellowship awards will, effectively, provide each of the fellows with a second year of full funding to pursue aspects of their work that they could not during the pandemic. They have already shared their plans for the post-fellowship year with First Nations, so we have a clear understanding of their aspirations for 2021. We believe that the additional funds will provide them the continuing support they will need to accomplish what they could not in 2020.
The grant recommended here would also include funding for First Nations to administer the additional grants.