Newsletter: November 2025

MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

 

 

Hello everyone, I hope this message finds you healthy and happy. November was another busy month for me; I was occupied with Chamiza Foundation work, board meetings (for boards that I sit on), and other activities.

Earlier this month, we hosted a Grantee Gathering for our 2025 grant recipients. The event was held at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. This event brought together representatives from twelve projects/programs that received awards this year. This was a very exciting event for us as we have not had a grantee gathering since 2018! We asked two of the organizations to present on their programs. Those projects were the Across the Americas Program out of Taos Pueblo and the Santa Ana Youth Hydrology Program (SAYH20) program out of Santa Ana Pueblo. Both programs delivered impressive results through the projects we supported. Hearing about the outcomes of this work reinforces how grateful we are to have contributed to their success. Photos from the event are included below.

As mentioned in previous newsletters, I serve as a board member for the Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF), a national, community-based organization dedicated to helping American Indian nations and people recover and control their rightful homelands. Our work focuses on promoting education, increasing cultural awareness, creating economic opportunities, and reforming legal and administrative systems that hinder Indian ownership and control of reservation lands. In early November, we held a board meeting at the Native Learning Center in Hollywood, Florida.

Due to our full agenda, we were unable to do any sightseeing during our visit. On the second day, Mr. Paul Backhouse, Senior Director of the Seminole Tribe of Florida Environmental Protection Office, spoke to the board about his work with the Seminole Tribe. Originally from England, Mr. Backhouse has served the tribe for over 20 years and is currently preparing a Seminole tribal member to succeed him, which he believes is the right course of action. He delivered an eye-opening presentation highlighting the challenges communities face from climate change and rising sea levels. He also shared that his team regularly captures pythons, with staff trained to safely remove them from large holes. Additionally, he mentioned an alligator wrestling event that took place shortly before our arrival. On our last day, we visited the Seminole Tribe’s Council Oak Tree, the historic site of the meetings that led to the creation of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The Council Oak Tree was added to the National Register of Historic Places in December 2012. Here are a few photos from my trip.

 

In March of 2026, ILTF will be hosting a “Native Land Conference”. If you are a tribal leader, land office staff, tribal landowner, Native advocate, educator, and or an ally from across Indian Country this conference is for you. This conference will provide space to engage in meaningful dialogue and collaborative learning. If you are interested in learning more about ILTF or about the upcoming Native Land Conference, please visit our website at: https://iltf.org/native-land-conference/

 

Lastly, I wanted to take this opportunity to give you a heads-up on our application deadlines for 2026. We will begin accepting applications on January 9, 2026, for our first round of funding. The application deadline is February 6, 2026. Additionally, we will begin accepting applications on April 10, 2026, for round two. The application deadline is May 8, 2026, for our second and final round of funding. The Board will meet on March 13, 2026, to make grant awards for the February 6, 2026, deadline. The board will meet on June 12, 2026, for the May 8, 2026, deadline. Please note, if you need funding for the Summer of 2026, we recommend that you apply for the first round of funding. We will be accepting applications that focus on our traditional priority areas: language preservation, traditional architecture, sustainable agriculture, traditional arts and crafts, tribal and ancestral history; oral histories and storytelling, youth education and leadership, and intercultural exchange and education. Please contact me if you have any questions.

There are three ways that you can apply 1) You can complete your application online through our website, 2) You can email your application to apply@chamiza.org, or 3) You can send your completed application directly to me at executivedirector@chamiza.org . Please remember that I am available if you want to talk about a project idea/concept. I can also review your application before the deadline to ensure that you have included all the required information. If you have any questions about our foundation or questions about a program or project you want to work on do not hesitate to reach out to me. I can be reached by email at: executivedirector@chamiza.org.

Sincerely,

Dr. Amanda J. Montoya (Taos, Ohkay Owingeh & Isleta Pueblos)

 

 

 

 

 

2025 Chamiza Foundation Grantee Gathering

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Ted Jojola’s Film Screening and Retirement Event

 

On November 19, 2025, UNM’s School of Architecture & Planning hosted a film screening and retirement event for Dr. Ted Jojola. Dr. Jojola has been a Chamiza Foundation Board Member since 2002.  He is a Distinguished Professor and Regents’ Professor in the Community & Regional Planning Program at UNM’s School of Architecture & Planning. He was Director of Native American Studies at UNM from 1980-1996 and established the interdisciplinary undergraduate degree program in Native Studies. From 2008-2010, he was Visiting Distinguished Professor at Arizona State University where he was a member of the faculty of the School Geographic Sciences and Planning. Currently, he is the founder and Director of the Indigenous Design + Planning Institute.  iD+Pi works with tribal communities throughout the SW region as well as internationally by facilitating culturally informed approaches to community development.

I was honored to be invited to sit on a panel following the viewing of Dr. Jojola’s film. I have known Dr. Jojola since 2007, when I first met him as a graduate student in the Community and Regional Planning program at the University of New Mexico. Shortly after I completed my Master’s degree, he asked me to assist him at the Indigenous Design & Planning Institute (iD+Pi), where I served as Program Manager until deciding to pursue my PhD. After earning my PhD, it was Dr. Jojola who encouraged me to apply for the position of Executive Director with the Chamiza Foundation. I am deeply grateful to know him and for all the guidance, support, and mentorship he has offered me throughout the years. Congratulations on your retirement, Dr. Jojola. Wishing you all the very best in the next chapter of your life story.

Film Screening: Returning Home

Returning Home is one of a series of 4 films funded by ArtPlace America and produced by the Indigenous Design and Planning Institute under the Directorship of Ted Jojola. Executive Producer Paulette Moore (Mohawk) navigated this series effort through the Covid shutdown. It also features animations created by Joseph Erb (Cherokee) and background music by Jordan James (Chippewa).

Filmmaker Kenzie Greer documents an Indigenous ecovillage community, located in Alabama. Ekvn-Yefolecv is a vibrant, Indigenous-led ecovillage community of the Maskoke people, located in their traditional homelands in Alabama. The Maskoke people have an inseparable, ancient connection to this region, which was violently severed by forced displacement beginning in 1836 as a result of the Indian Removal Act. However, in a profound act of rematriation, a collective led by Marcus Briggs-Cloud, the ecovillage Director, began reacquiring their ancestral lands in January 2018. Starting with 577 acres and now expanding to 1,240 acres, Ekvn-Yefolecv has been built as an off-grid, income-sharing village. The ecovillage is not just a place to live; it’s a powerful statement of sovereignty, cultural revival, and ecological restoration. They are creating new fluent speakers of the critically endangered Maskoke language through immersion and are passing down vital traditional ecological and agricultural knowledge.

There is the possibility that another screening of this film will be set up at UNM’s School of Architecture & Planning. Stay tuned! 

Here are some photos from the event