The Restoring Our Relatives grant is offered by First Nations Development Institute, a Native-led nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting economic development in Native American communities. Founded in 1980, First Nations has awarded over 3,640 grants totaling $94.3 million through 2024, working across 45 states, the District of Columbia, and American Samoa. The organization emphasizes strengthening Native economies and institutions, and its Stewarding Native Lands program integrates traditional ecological knowledge with modern conservation to support Native-led environmental stewardship.
Restoring Our Relatives is a project within the Stewardship initiative of the Stewarding Native Lands program. This funding opportunity supports projects that aim to protect and restore Native species through community engagement and traditional knowledge. These efforts are intended to enhance biodiversity, ecosystem health, and cultural continuity. Sample project activities include revitalizing rivercane for erosion control and basket weaving, reintroducing beavers to restore wetland ecosystems, returning buffalo to native grasslands to strengthen food systems, and restoring shellfish beds for subsistence and coastal stability.
The grant awards range from $25,000 to $50,000 per project. Funding is intended to build programmatic and organizational capacity for Tribes and Native-led organizations engaged in species restoration and stewardship. A total of up to 15 grants will be issued under this round, supported through First Nations’ Tribal Lands Conservation Fund, launched in 2023 to funnel more resources into tribally led conservation initiatives. Grant funding must be used within the designated project period and align with the goals of community-based stewardship, biodiversity cultivation, and cultural revitalization.
Eligible applicants are federally recognized Tribal governments and Native-led nonprofit organizations. The application must be submitted electronically by Wednesday, July 16, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time. No late or incomplete applications will be considered unless prior approval has been obtained. Applications submitted via email, fax, or mail will not be accepted without prior authorization. The grant period runs from August 1, 2025, through August 31, 2026.
All applications will be reviewed by First Nations, and award notifications will be issued on or before July 29, 2025, via email to the project contact listed in the submission. Interested applicants can apply online and should ensure they are subscribed to First Nations’ mailing list to receive updates. Additional support and inquiries can be directed to grantmaking@firstnations.org or by contacting any of their regional offices.
For further information or assistance, potential applicants may reach out to First Nations Development Institute’s national headquarters in Longmont, Colorado, or its regional offices in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Pasadena, California. Contact options include phone numbers and email addresses as listed in the official call for proposals. No pre-application deadlines, webinars, or technical assistance sessions are currently noted in the source material.
