Showcasing Deserving American Indians Committee Grant Recipients

When Black Elk, a holy man of the Oglala Sioux, spoke of “the beauty and strangeness of the earth” he expressed a deep reverence for the everyday environment - an environment inextricably woven into the fabric of Indigenous life. Preserving and celebrating the cultural heritage of America’s Indigenous peoples demands effort, grace, and gratitude. The American Indians Committee of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution continues, since 1940, to contribute and serve the indigenous community in meaningful ways.

Recently, the American Indians Committee, under the direction of Elizabeth Steward Garner, National Chair, awarded monetary donations to several distinguished Native American Institutions. These contributions aim to preserve history and foster educational opportunities for Indigenous communities.

Sequoyah Research Center

On Wednesday, December 18, 2024, a $20,000 check to Mr. Daniel Littlefield, Director, at the Sequoyah National Research Center at the University of Arkansas – Little Rock (UALR). Mr. Littlefield’s staff, UALR representatives and several Arkansas Society DAR (ASDAR) Daughters including the state regent, state vice regent, and state American Indian Committee chair attended the presentation. Mr. Littlefield provided a tour of the facility and shared information on the Center’s accomplishments, including recent acquisitions of Native American documents related to significant Native American events. He and staff expressed immense appreciation for the grant and how the acquisitions proposed in the grant could elevate the stature of the Center to be one of the world’s leading repositories of Native American documents and publications. This donation will bring the library up to date by acquiring books available from tribally owned and directed presses, acquiring books available from presses that have historically published books by Native writers and about Native history and culture, acquiring books available from books sellers, and using in-house bibliographies of Native issues of Native journals in their library. The ASDAR state publicity chair’s press releases for local and statewide publications produced stories in two local papers and the UALR editor published an article in the university’s newspaper.

Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA)

The first New Mexico recipient, the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) was established in 1962 on the campus of the Indian School in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 2001, it became the world’s only four-year college exclusively focused on American Indian arts and culture. On Friday, February 28, 2025, a $20,000 check was presented to Mary Deleary, Direct of the IAIA Research Center, for the digitization of vital materials donated by Suzan Shown Harjo.

These materials include reel-to-reel, audio cassettes, and videos chronicling Harjo’s activism. She dedicated over 40 years to advocating for Indigenous rights, serving as a special assistant for Indian legislation during the Carter administration and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor by President Obama in 2014. Digiting this collection will provide students, researchers, faculty, and staff with a deeper engagement with Harjo’s remarkable legacy and contributions.