Decolonizing Data

Our Decolonizing Data grant opportunity offers funding for cultural restoration, resurgence of data stewardship, and collaborative partnership building.

Urban Indian Health Institute is now accepting applications for our Decolonizing Data grant—an opportunity for your project or program to receive up to $50,000 in funding. We’ll award grants to groups that are using culturally based methodologies to create opportunities for cultural restoration, data stewardship, and collaborative partnerships that put our core principles of Decolonizing Data into practice.

Through this initiative, we’re setting the groundwork for broad adoption of practices that embody the mission of data for Indigenous people, by Indigenous people—with tangible applications for non-Indigenous communities and government agencies as well.

Apply by August 1, 2022, at 11:59 p.m.

Core Principles of Decolonizing Data

Funding will support the following core tenets of Decolonizing Data—as defined by UIHI—as they pertain to American Indians and Alaska Natives and other Indigenous peoples. These principles are not meant to be applied broadly across populations. Additionally, we recognize this list is not complete and welcome other Indigenous thought, practice, and knowledge as it grows:

  • We have a legal right to data governance through treaty and trust responsibility.
  • We restore cultural and spiritual practices that include the belief systems that are contrary to western religious practices and common belief systems.
  • We are accountable to the next generations.
  • We have a responsibility and accountability to sustain and build tribal strength and vitality through data.
  • We create a collection of tribal affiliation and/or tribal enrollment as defined by each individual tribal nation.

Decolonizing Data Grants

We encourage you to apply if your work involves one or more of the following priority areas:

  • Legal right to data governance through treaty and trust responsibility.  
  • Restoration of cultural and spiritual practices, including belief systems that are contrary to western religious practices and common belief systems. This includes but is not limited to spiritual connections to land and animals that inform data practices, beliefs in ancestors guiding data, and other cultural practices that vary by tribe and region.  
  • Accountability to the next generations—including but not limited to the passing down of ancestral knowledge—support of individuals building knowledge and stories of service to their communities, and the advancement of Indigenous scientific knowledge. 
  • Responsibility and accountability to sustain and build forward tribal strength and vitality through data.  
  • Collection of tribal affiliation and/or tribal enrollment as defined by each individual tribal nation.  
  • Acknowledgement of harmful data practices coupled with healing, restoration, and reparations.  
  • Strengths-based data collection, analysis, and dissemination.  
  • Protective community and cultural factors measured and weighted against disparities and gaps.  
  • Community governance every step of the way (collection, analysis, dissemination).  
  • Appropriate collection of race and ethnicity.  
  • Embedded accountability of entities for collection of race and ethnicity.  
  • Disaggregation of data by race, ethnicity, and multiracial identities.  
  • Undoing education disparities and narratives that are embedded in institutions that inhibit POC in data science fields.  
  • Small populations methodologies.  
  • Acknowledging community knowledge and investing in data capacity as informed by the community. 

Funding Amount: Up to $50,000 

Funding Period: August 8, 2022–December 31, 2022

Important Dates

RFA and Application Materials releasedFriday, July 1, 2022
Pre-application webinarTuesday, July 12, 2022, at 9:30 a.m. PT
Funding application deadlineMonday, August 1, 2022, by 11:59 p.m. PT
Award notificationMonday, August 8, 2022
Funding periodAugust 8, 2022–December 31, 2022

Instructions to Applicants

Pre-application Webinar

We hosted a pre-application webinar for our Decolonizing Data grant opportunity where we discussed the project, the application process, and answered any questions applicants had.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for funding under this application, the organization must be one of the following:

  • A not-for-profit urban or rural Native organization whose mission, leadership and board are representative of Native communities
  • Tribal nation
  • Tribal organization
  • Local governments, if there is a demonstrated equitable partnership with local tribal communities, urban or rural

Applicants must also participate in ongoing communication with UIHI to discuss progress on work plan activities, technical assistance needs, and report metrics on progress.

Funding Restrictions

There are no funding restrictions that apply to this application.

Recipients may use funds for reasonable project purposes. This includes personnel, travel, supplies, and services.

How to apply

Apply by clicking the button below and filling out the Microsoft Form.

We recommend drafting your responses in a separate document before beginning to fill out the form. To preview the questions, you can download a PDF version of the application.

Applications must be submitted in the form by Monday, August 1, 2022, by 11:59 p.m. PT.