stories
We invite philanthropic institutions to change how they redistribute funding. We want to see a prioritization of BIPOC Artists and culture-bearers who have been historically exploited. Since 2020, our work has replaced the competitive grant process and centers land, identity, trust, healing, and time. It recognizes the land and the peoples grounded in cultural power who make up the field of creative place-keeping.
We invite you to utilize the work and experience of the Waterers as a powerful proof of concept and the beginning of a learning process.
Dyana DeCoteau-Dyess
“My mouth was open for like ten minutes. I told my husband, oh my God, oh, my God. I think I just got an artist grant.”
Dyana DeCoteau-Dyess is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. She is a photographer, painter, and printmaker, now pursuing a BFA at Minot State University in North Dakota, where she is the art club president and the vice president of the Native American Culture Club.
Dyana says that art talent is inherent in her indigenous community, and she is grateful for that legacy. Because both her grandmother and mother are resident school survivors, she wasn’t taught her own culture and sometimes feels some “imposter syndrome” as a Native artist. Making art has become Dyana’s way of reconnecting.
While one of her biggest barriers is money, applying for funding is challenging. “Applying for a grant, the jargon is confusing. I struggle with the correct terminology to use, and a lot of times, I just give up. For folks who have always done it themselves, it’s hard to ask for help. I’m hoping with this grant, I can showcase that we can work a job, and we can also do our art and make that our career.”
Representation matters. Dyana says, “There might not be room for me, but I’m going to slowly move myself in. I want to show other folks the potential that they have. This kind of stuff never happens to us; I never thought I would be where I’m at right now. This is everything I always wanted. ”
See more of Dyana’s work as a photographer here.
Hamzat Koriko
“You take a deep breath. You know, you feel like you want to pinch yourself and see if it’s real. I opened the email and read it again, I told my wife… it seems like I got the gift.”
Hamzat Koriko, PhD, is a translator, playwright, executive, and former artistic director of the African Arts Arena, based in Grand Forks, ND, he now leads Kori Art where he uses performing and visual arts to engage communities around immigration.
Originally from Togo, West Africa, Hamzat loves using traditional Tongolese storytelling to connect with people and reconnect with his roots. Drumming, for Hazmat, is not just a work of art; it is a reminder of where he came from. “When I drum, it’s more of a heartbeat. It is a reminder that I come from somewhere”
Hamzat thinks the biggest challenge for people who historically haven’t been given funding opportunities is to let go and trust. “The Waterers said, ‘Somebody told us about you and we want to learn more. You don’t have to give up time with your family—you just have to sit down and tell us who you are.’ The Waterers truly see what you’re doing; they welcome and want to celebrate you. They make it easy for people to access resources.”
“My message for those trying to serve their community is to keep going. You know, it’s a long, long, long process. But one day, your dream will come true.”
Kyle Mesteth
“I'm still blown away. I never could have fathomed something like this. It makes me want to go ten times harder and be a million times more in tune with what I'm doing.”
Kyle Mesteth is Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge, South Dakota. A musician, filmmaker, and painter, he works with skateboarders and artists. He is the CEO and founder of Ground Control, an indoor skatepark in the heart of the Pine Ridge Lakota Reservation.
Ground Control helps skaters and artists make their dreams a reality. There, Kyle sees young people and families struggling with addiction, grief, and loss. “I’m dealing with kids who want to take their lives. People who’ve lost their kids, kids who lost their siblings, kids who are addicted, kids who have parents who are addicted. When I became a father ten years ago, I wanted my son to grow up in a better place. I realized this work was really important when I would get to the Ground Control building and the skaters would be there, waiting for me.”
“You don’t go around asking, hey, recognize me? See me? You just do the work. When funding comes, it’s a blessing. I’ve learned how to make things happen without money, but with money, I can make them bigger and better. I’m trying to become someone who can apply for grants and not lose sight of why.”
Kyle’s message to funders is, “If you can help somebody in a struggling community like a reservation, trust them. Trust that they’ll get the work done because they will.” The Waterers’ approach is based on trust, which is important to Kyle. “That trust thing goes far. It lit a fire in me: I knew it. I knew it. If I work hard, people will notice, and good things will happen.”
Learn more about Kyle’s work here.
Lawrence Diggs
“When we create art together, we can tell a deeper story than just the words we use.”
Lawrence Diggs, 76, is an artist, a Soto Zen monk, and a Buddhist prison chaplain. He founded The International Vinegar Museum in South Dakota, designed and created a national emergency medical system in Burkina Faso, and helped plan and build a Buddhist temple in San Francisco. He has been honored with numerous awards, including a Medal of Honor with gold stars from Burkina Faso.
Lawrence employs diverse media to be a conduit for others to learn new techniques, use different materials, and discover new ways of thinking about art. “I say, come sit with me. If you feel scared, let me know and we can work it out. If you don’t have resources, let me help you find them. That seems to be the most important thing I do.”
As a prison chaplain, Lawrence helped individuals impacted by the justice system create an outreach group that crafts handmade greeting cards to normalize compassion in the prison. They draw the images and write the greetings, and the message is, “You are not forgotten, you are seen, you exist, and you have people in this prison who care about you.”
When we talk about funding, we usually focus on the money. Lawrence approaches funding from a standpoint of inquiry: he asks, what are you trying to do? What is it that you want? What’s your goal? What’s your mission statement? Not just in this one piece, but in your whole life?
Experience Lawrence’s work and words here.
Sai Thao
“I am a little bit shocked because people like me don’t get recognized. I’m still in that shock state. This gift came right when I needed it the most.”
Sai Thao has been producing videos since she was 13 years old. She is Hmong American and resides in Saint Paul, Minnesota. For the past 30 years, Sai has produced experimental and documentary shorts and as a producer for public television and has made more than 10 video shorts exhibited throughout the US, Thailand, and Laos.
Sai is currently producing Hidden in My Heart, a 30-minute experimental documentary about grief trauma and the fragile bonds of family within her culture. She co-founded In Progress, a non-profit dedicated to building the voices of young artists from rural, tribal, and migrant communities through storytelling for the last 27 years.
When she learned about the Waterers, she connected them to her narrative through gardening. “Waterers are not only creating life, they are giving life and sustaining life. Seeing people from my community recognize my work is beautiful because it is rooted in building it. I appreciate how the Waterers are creating a “community giving back to the community’ cycle. I wish other foundations considered that process.”
Sharon Mansur
“The grant was a wonderful surprise. It was such amazing timing as I’m right now working on how to support other creatives.”
Sharon Mansur is a dance and interdisciplinary experimental artist, educator, curator, and community builder of Lebanese heritage based in Winona, Mni Sota Makoce/Minnesota, Dakota land. Her creative practices weave movement making, improvisation, visual environments, food, and site-situated/responsive art to offer multi-sensory and immersive experiences rooted in body, imagination, and environment. She loves creating artistic opportunities for people from all walks of life to connect and engage.
Sharon lives and works in a rural area and appreciates how much she can see from right where she is. “It keeps me growing and I can pass it along, which keeps our community growing and learning, too.”
Sharon thinks of funding as a continuous path forward. “Rather than ‘I’m going to spend this amount and then we’re done for the year,’ it’s ‘how could those funds perhaps be invested to continue to grow and support?’ I’d like to use this opportunity to engage in more questions about funding and what that means or could look like. Let’s dream big. I’d love to just keep dreaming.”
Learn more about Sharon’s dance and movement art here and here.
Quinn Villagomez
“I was like, What? I read everything, and I couldn’t believe it. I was in a moment of, like, wait a minute. What’s going on? Who me? Of all people?”
Quinn Villagomez, a trans Latine woman, is a broadcast journalist, host, and MC. She co-hosts RARE on KFAI Radio’s Fresh Fruit, the longest-running LGBTQ radio program in the nation. Quinn graduated from Brown College in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, in 2003 with a degree in radio broadcasting. She is on the board of directors at the Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition, and hosts concerts, fashion shows, and other events in the Twin Cities.
As a trans woman of color, Quinn writes from her heart when submitting a grant application. “I write what’s on my mind, and sometimes that is not how a grant should be written. When I don’t get funding, I feel like it’s because I’m trans or I’m a woman of color or I’m less than, that my passion for community art is not real.”
Learning about the Waterers grant, Quinn was in disbelief. “I’ve never been gifted anything like this before. It was so surreal. I kept thinking, wait a minute, is this real? And then I cried. I truly cried. I’m super amazingly over the moon.”
Quinn knows from experience that trans and trans-BIPOC individuals are not often given opportunities to do community work. “We have to work, show up, speak ten times harder. We have to show our work to prove that we are worthy, that we are powerful, that we exist, and that we can do great things. All of the ‘no’s’ that I’ve been told make me think, okay, I will do this. I’m going to create art and events that bring all the things that are important to me to the forefront. I practice by showing up and giving.”
Learn more about Quinn’s work here.
Frederick Edwards Jr.
How funding enabled a man rooted in his history continue his work.
Frederick Edwards Jr. is the founder of FredsDissonance, co-founder of Umoja Leadership Exploration, Program coordinator and case manager at Youthworks, ND.
Having lost over 50 friends to gun violence, Frederick began to create events and platforms, providing opportunities for African American voices to be heard. Frederick says, “Understanding our history and our past is the first step to restoring our future. I am excited to work with other Waterers because I can serve in a more extensive network now.”
He was shocked when he was told he had been seen for his future building work in the community. Being recognized gave him “the go ahead to keep going with the work he had been doing” with equity and inclusion at the forefront.
“It is now more important than ever to bring the culture that people have left behind back to Fargo. From the connections and stories, I know I am not alone in the journey of education, advocacy, and decolonizing my community.”
Grace T. Andreoff Smith
How healing and learning can overcome the fear of remembering.
Grace T. Andreoff Smith is a storyteller, an ensemble actress with the New Native Theatre, and a boarding school survivor who has been active in her Twin Cities American Indian Community for many years. Grace embodies the Yupik values of spirituality, love, sharing, hard work, respect, and humor and lives them out loud everyday.
At 80 years young, she relies on strong bonds of kinship and fortitude to courageously share her story of being a boarding school survivor, a story that is not often told. Her spirit embodies Indigenous values and brings joy to all the younger Native people who are lucky enough to encounter her bright and kind energy.
Her stories of boarding school survival are almost unbelievable and must be documented. This gift will give Grace an opportunity to go back home to Alaska and reconnect with her land and people. The visit will provide a sense of healing and peace that quells the fear of remembering a dark past that is often overcome by strength, love and prayer.
Lightning Rod
How Funding Helped a Theatre Collective Continue to Live Out Loud.
Lightning Rod is an experimental theatre collective of trans and queer artists the Twin Cities. Their mission is to show their community that they already possess the skills and knowledge needed to create relevant, meaningful, timely, and quality performance art. The collective invites artists of all backgrounds and skill levels to participate in what they call “flash theatre,” an action of community and political involvement, begging the question “What needs to be said this week?”
On the gift from the Waterers they said, “We are invigorated by the opportunity to be recognized and supported by artmakers and culture bearers in Minnesota. Our work has become increasingly important as our city processes through the uprisings of 2020 and the ongoing global pandemic.”
Immediate Distribution funds were used to pay their staff and artists and allow them the ability to strategically plan and make decisions about their future. “We are a company tethered to our community of queer and trans people, most of whom happen to be BIPOC. We are interested in possibility and creation as we believe that Transformative Justice and imagination are tools for discovering a new and just world.”
Native Artists United
The Waterers redistribution of funds in North Dakota benefit Native Artists United.
Native Artists United (NAU) are a group of Native artists devoted to perpetuating and revitalizing Native art, both traditional and contemporary, and creating a local Native-based economy. NAU has three focus areas: Community, Education and Opportunity.
They pride themselves on supporting those whose work focuses on community building and self healing, narrative shifting, artist centered, and centering belonging and relatedness. NAU and The Waterers both value healing, community, decolonial thinking, and trust-building.
After being gifted funds on the Immediate Distribution phase, NAU founder Holly Doll regifted a portion of the funds to her cooperative which redistributed funding to artists and culture bearers across North Dakota, ranging from helping an elder take care of her grandchildren to securing financial support for an up and coming fashion designer to supporting someone in their journey back to college to work toward their BFA. Doll says, “NAU doesn't seek power or control, we seek to receive and give support.”
Ptayela Owayawa Wankatuya
How the waterers boosted confidence, infrastructure and creativity.
Clementine Bordeaux, artist and doctoral candidate, Mary V. Bordeaux, co-owner and creative director of Racing Magpie, and Layli Long Soldier, author of Chromosomory and WHEREAS, lead Ptayela Owayawa Wankatuya. They are committed to upholding the intellectual strength and creativity of Indigenous people, with a focus on serving students from the Titunwan heritage and the larger Oceti Sakowin community.
Funds provided by the Waterers allowed them to focus on building infrastructure for the organization and relieved them of the pressure of fundraising. They created a logo to aid in outreach for their workshops and training to propel their mission. Since they are in their preliminary stages of developing their programming and outreach, the funds from the Immediate Distribution have given their organization’s confidence a boost.
Dustina Gill,Sitomni Sa Yapi Win, Paints Red Around Her
Becoming allies to a community led non-profit doing vital resilience work.
Dustina Gill, Sitomni Sa Yapi Win, Paints Red Around Her, hails from the Wahpekute band of the Oceti Sakowin and is an enrolled citizen of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate in the northeast corner of South Dakota on the Lake Traverse Reservation.
As a lifelong advocate of Native youth, Dustina established Nis’to Incorporated, a Native nonprofit organization. Nis’to, a Dakota word that means “concern for others outside of ourselves,” does cultural resilience-based work with youth, young adults and families on the Lake Traverse Reservation centered around leadership, reentry, and mental health and well-being.
Priding themselves on intentionality, Nis’to feels that’s what connects them to the values of the Waterers. Dustina says, “I was taken aback, shocked, and so honored. It was such an amazing feeling to realize someone noticed what I was doing.” Everything they do is guided by the people they work with and they strongly believe in “not about us, without us.”
Sunkawakan Ta Wounspe
How a gift helped this nonprofit reconnect with their sacred relative.
Sunkawakan Ta Wounspe: Teachings from the Horse Nation is a nonprofit committed to repatriating our ancestral horses, preserving the teachings of their ancestors and nurturing the relationship between the horse nation and the people of Standing Rock.
After years of traumatic events like the Indian wars, forced assimilation, boarding schools, the organization wants to work on bringing horses back into the lives of their people. They believe that if they can reconnect their people to the horse, then future generations can once again flourish.
“The nomination and gift was an answer to a prayer,” they said in regards to being gifted from the Amplifying Sovereignty fund. “The support came at a crucial time giving us the ability to purchase much needed hay during a period of extreme drought in the Dakotas. The future of our ability to care for our horses was at risk due to climate change. The gift gave us the ability to care for them at a very crucial time for our family.”
Gizhiigin Arts Incubator
Supporting an artist-led initiative providing resources to help advance artistic goals.
The Gizhiigin Arts Incubator, an artist-led initiative, supports Native artists in the White Earth Nation by providing services and resources to advance their artistic and entrepreneurial goals. Starting as a vacant storefront on Main Street in Mahnomen, the incubator provides space for exhibitions, common work areas and studio space.
On receiving the gift from the Waterers, Gizhiigin said, “It is a great honor to be recognized by others doing similar work. With the pandemic and the aftershock of the murder of George Floyd laying bare the inequities of a system designed to exclude Indigenous and BIPOC communities from the equitable access to resources needed to thrive, now is the time to take action to disrupt the status quo. Artists are the culture bearers of our Indigenous communities.”
Gizhiigin seeks to grow the arts economy within the White Earth Nation and the region. Partnering with the Red Lake Nations 4-Directions Development, Inc., Gizhiigin has helped to design the Anishinaabe Art Festival set for July 2022 in Bemidji, MN.
Lakota Youth Development
Working with Lakota youth in multigenerational, experiential programs.
Lakota Youth Development (LYD) is a culturally specific program that teaches self sufficiency, healthy lifestyles, land stewardship and youth development. This is done through Lakota language immersion, apprenticeships in bee keeping and cultural heritage tourism enterprises.
“Our work is based on the cultural teachings of Wolakota; grounded in the understanding that we are relatives to all creation as well as Grandmother Earth. These teachings are a lifeway of being good relatives and ensuring that there is no abuse, harm or disrespect, and are shared throughout our multigenerational, experiential programs.
As our youth grow up, they begin to ask how they can live well in today’s world and be successful as a Lakota; so we have supported the development of the first youth led social enterprise Honey Lodge.
We center our culture and our way of life as uniquely strong, independent people to ensure that the next generations remain grounded in who they are. The risk of losing our language risks losing the deep meaning of our cultural ways, balance with the environment and our clear connections to the universe.’
Atim Opoka
“This is the first time I have felt seen by just being me.”
Atim and her family are refugees from Uganda who now live in South Dakota. As a musical artist and storyteller, her work has been heavily impacted by these years of Covid. She continues to inspire others, and make an impact in her daily work as an educator for marginalized youth in the arts. She has persevered through many obstacles and said “this gift is helping me to love and heal all the parts of me I have tried to run away from. It has made me realize I have always been an artist, even when I couldn't meet the white- euro standard of "Good Art". My culture, my roots were always the foundation of who I am today. Art is at the heart of Acholi culture that uses music and dance to tell stories and celebrate our lives.
This gift just didn't feel real, it felt like a scam, because usually there are way more hoops and jumps you have to go through to get funding. It takes experience, and resources to be able to showcase your work in a way people are willing to look at and value. It's sad, but this is the first time I have felt seen for my work by just existing and being me, without it coming at the cost of myself or my art. No washing down or white washing. Even when being vulnerable is so hard in this world, we must be able to show the complexities of being a human that is part of a marginalized group.”
Atim is working on releasing her first music video, and a 5 song EP next fall, releasing singles and merchandise throughout the year. If it is safe, she will also be booking live shows in the Twin Cities in 2022.