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- By Native News Online Staff
Leech Lake Band’s Tiwahe project will work to improve economic security, cultural connections, natural resource stewardship, healthy lifestyles, and other key needs among Tribal members.
Red Lake Nation has participated in the program since December 2020. White Earth Band of Chippewa will also receive funding to implement similar programs or to participate in a Tiwahe incubator that prepares them to join the program when additional funding is made available by Congress.
Tiwahe (ti-wah-hay) means “family” in the Lakota language. President Biden’s budget for Fiscal Year 2024 requested an increase of $33.5 million for the Tiwahe Program to provide additional resources for Native families and communities, which was supported by Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar (D) and Tina Smith (D).
Smith, a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, wrote to the United States Department of Interior supporting Leech Lake Band’s application to the Tiwahe program.
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