From the Oregonian:

The Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, which will be based in Portland, had its historic launch last week, making it the first nonprofit in the nation devoted exclusively to funding Native American arts and culture causes.

The choice to base the foundation in Portland reflects the appeal to the rest of the country of Portland — even when it’s ailing economically — as well as this area’s many layers of Native American activity and culture.

The foundation is just emerging, but some members of the Native American arts community already are impressed.

“This is visionary,” says art dealer Cecily Quintana of Quintana Galleries, a family-owned gallery that has been involved with the Native American community for 37 years. “Everything about this is encouraging. Look at the board — it’s a nationally based one.”

The foundation’s six-member board includes chairman Walter Echo-Hawk (Pawnee), a lawyer; Joy Harjo (Muscogee (Creek) Nation), a poet; Letitia Chambers, a former U.S. representative to the United Nations General Assembly; and Elizabeth Woody (Navajo/Warm Springs/Yakama), a Portland visual artist and former director of Ecotrust’s Indigenous Leadership Program. Continue reading →