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Notice of Funding Opportunity: A Sense of Place Program (Canada)

Deadline: 1-Feb-22

The First People’s Cultural Council has announced the applications for A Sense of Place Program: Reconnecting the Land through Indigenous Cultural Heritage to foster a greater understanding of the connection and safeguarding practices between the land, environment and Indigenous cultural heritage.

Indigenous cultural heritage includes ideas, experiences, worldviews, objects, forms of expression, practices, knowledge, spirituality, kinship ties, places and land valued by Indigenous Peoples. Each of these concepts is inseparably interconnected, holds intrinsic value to the well-being of Indigenous Peoples, and affects all generations.

The SOPG offers grants to Indigenous communities to foster greater understanding of the connection and safeguarding practices between the land/environment and Indigenous cultural heritage.

The SOPG will support projects that:

  • Demonstrate how Indigenous cultural heritage is connected to the land, and
  • Explore how Indigenous knowledge systems can be used to support community resilience and resurgence, particularly in the context of:
    • Cumulative impacts,
    • Land management and planning, and
    • Climate change
Funding Information
  • Sense of Place Program grants range between $10,001 to $25,000.
Examples of Eligible Projects
  • Documenting Projects
    • Recording oral histories that explore connections between cultural landscapes and changes to those places over time
    • Documenting practices for safeguarding/managing cultural places
    • Creating an inventory of culturally sensitive areas and ecosystems (e.g., harvesting areas or spiritual areas) and identifying risks associated with climate change, development, contamination, etc.
    • Exploring methods of mapping (GIS, etc.) that effectively capture Indigenous knowledge of the land and its ecosystems
  • Projects Connecting Knowledge Systems and Land
    • Explore how place names help communities understand the importance of a cultural landscape, site, or resource and how it was traditionally managed
    • Host an outdoor camp for community youth to learn traditional names of culturally significant plants, animals, areas, resources, etc. and discuss how these can be protected for future generations
  • Knowledge Sharing Projects
    • Design and deliver programs for students on-reserve that teach traditional ways of knowing, taking care of the land, and/or using resources in a responsible/sustainable manner
    • Host a workshop to identify and reduce risks to culturally significant plants, animals, areas, resources, etc.
    • Host an event where Elders tell stories about how things had always been in the past and how they are changing now, especially as a result of climate change and cumulative impacts
    • Host a community event with traditional activities or methods of teaching about the land and protecting resources.
  • Research Projects
    • Undertake a study on how important cultural places are identified and managed from a government perspective versus from an Indigenous perspective (e.g., assessing Species at Risk, traditional methods of gathering information, etc.)
    • Undertake archival research on the Indigenous history of a significant cultural place/ecosystem
Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for a Sense of Place grant, organizations must:

  • a B.C. First Nation band or tribal council or hereditary chiefs’ council; OR
  • a not-for-profit registered in B.C. in good standing and governed by Indigenous individuals (at least 51% of Directors identify as Indigenous); OR
  • a First Nation school or adult education centre operating in B.C.; OR
  • A collective of three or more Indigenous people, from a First Nation(s) in B.C., with a mandate to revitalize Indigenous cultural heritage.
  • Additionally, applicants must:
    • Demonstrate how their project meets the stated Program Objectives
    • Submit a signed application (only one application per organization)
    • Present a realistic, balanced budget which demonstrates financial need
    • Indicate an achievable project timeline
    • Ensure all FPCC COVID-19 Program Guidelines are met.

For more information, visit https://fpcc.ca/program/a-sense-of-place/

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