Writing & Storytelling Programs

  • Emerging Diné Writers Institute

    EDWI aims to motivate and expose Diné high school and college students and community members to acclaimed Diné authors, writers, and local publishers. Participants improve their creative writing ability, work within various genres and forms, and foster an interest in our people to tell their own stories.

  • Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program

    YIPAP works to promote and cultivate Indigenous storytelling and performance to further authentic representation at Yale and in Indian Country. It hosts an annual Young Native Playwrights Contest in the Winter/Spring.

  • Dances with Words

    Dances with Words™ is a youth development initiative of First Peoples Fund that works with young people, adult mentors, high schools and nonprofit partners on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation empowering participants to become engaged students and community leaders through literary, spoken word and other art forms.

  • National Student Poets Program

    NSPP is the nation’s highest honor for young poets (grades 10–11) creating original work. Annually, five students are selected for one year of service, each representing a different geographic region of the country. The Program believes in the power of youth voices to create and sustain meaningful change, and supports them in being heard.

  • The ONWARD Project

    The ONWARD Project highlights Native artists, partners with Native artists for storytelling projects, and serves as a form of digital storytelling spotlighting archives and familial narratives from the Southwest. Diné artists like Pamela J. Peters have been featured before.

  • The WoLakota Project

    The WoLakota project supports students in high-need schools through guiding educators into better implementation of the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings (OSEU) via Culturally Responsive Practices. The site features elder storytelling, lesson plans, films, activities, and more.

  • CNAY's Champions for Change

    Champions enter a close year-long working relationship with CNAY that begins in the spring with a series of recognition events in Washington, DC. Champions amplify their leadership stories and benefit from a variety of resources that enhance their advocacy skills. Former CNAY Champions have been storytellers, playwrights, and poets.

  • IllumiNative

    IllumiNative is an initiative, created and led by Natives, to challenge the negative narrative that surrounds Native communities and ensure accurate and authentic portrayals of Native communities are present in pop culture and media. IllumiNative hosts a variety of storytelling fellowships, ranging from screenwriting to animation storyboarding.

  • Native Arts and Cultures Foundation

    The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation advances equity and cultural knowledge, focusing on the power of arts and collaboration to strengthen Native communities and promote positive social change with American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native peoples in the United States. The site provides various resources for supporting artists, including the LIFT Fellowship for early career artists.

  • Gathering of the Tribes

    This 8 day program gives Native middle and high school students an opportunity to gain academic experience in a university setting at the University of California, Riverside. During the day, students will participate in various college courses, and personal development workshops. In the afternoons, they will engage in cultural and team building workshops, as well as fitness activities and a beach field trip. In addition, students will work with professors, college students, and invited American Indian community members as they discover and develop their career/lifetime goals.

  • College Horizons

    College Horizons is a “crash course” in preparing for the college application process. Students learn about a variety of colleges and universities by connecting with our 50+ partner institutions and will establish personal relationships with college admission representatives as well as college counselors along the way.

  • Abalone Mountain Press

    Run by Diné women, Abalone Mountain Press is located in downtown Phoenix. They run a variety of in-person workshops, events, and markets out of their home base, which shares a building with Palabras Bookstore. They also host various virtual workshops and readings.

  • Rez Girls Book Club

    The Rez Girls Book Club meets monthly on Zoom to discuss Native and Indigenous literature. Their biggest goal is to give exposure to Native authors. You can keep up with them on their Instagram!

  • Emerging Beyond Genocidal Colonization

    Emerging Beyond Genocidal Colonization is a reading series that centers Indigenous writers, especially poets. Readers, which range from emerging to established writers, and audience members convene on Zoom.

  • Lil' Native Girl in STEM

    Lil’ Native Girl in STEM is a platform founded by Charitie Ropati that centers the voices of young, Indigenous scientists, specifically those involved in STEM work. The account shares resources, stories from community members, and facilitates a comfortable space for Native women in STEM.

  • Native Voices

    Native Voices at the Autry is devoted to developing and producing new works for the stage by Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and First Nations playwrights.

  • Sundance Indigenous Film Lab

    The Sundance Institute Indigenous Program champions and provides deep support of Indigenous-created stories on a global scale. From labs and fellowships to screenings and gatherings around the world, the program’s offerings are designed in response to the specific needs of Native and Indigenous storytellers.