The Auntie Project: Native Women of Service is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization. Our mission is to be of service to Native American and Indigenous children in need through fundraising and educational awareness.
Cover Art by Wakeah Jhane (Comanche, Blackfeet, Kiowa)
Who We Are
Our board of directors is a group of multi-generational Native American and Indigenous women in Oklahoma who want to be of service to children in need in our communities. We are not affiliated with or working on behalf of a specific Native Nation, political party, political advocacy group, educational institution, or religious institution.
We are Aunties. In Native and Indigenous cultures, Aunties play a special role—we provide comfort and support, food and nourishment, advice and mentorship. We love. We love the children in our communities, and we have a special obligation to kids in need.
We are a certified 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization with a board of directors. The Auntie Project is not a sorority or member organization. Because we want to spend our time and energy on service, we maintain an efficient structure. This structure allows us—as an all-volunteer board—to keep overhead costs at a minimum so that each and every dollar donated goes to our initiatives. We hope to inspire all of the good Aunties out there (and everyone else) to help out wherever or whenever able.
(Special Initiative Fundraising Period:—May 15-June 15, 2020)
The Aunties have partnered with the Navajo Nation’s Department of Family Services for this initiative. All of the funds we raise will go directly to the Department of Family Services, which will use the funds for supplies needed by kids and families suffering from Covid-19. The Navajo Nation has one of the highest incidences per capita of coronavirus. Native and Indigenous peoples have long battled infectious diseases—please join us in sending support and love to our Indigenous kin.
(Initiative Fundraising Period:—March 2020-present)
Daily life during the pandemic is not easy. As schools close and parents lose work or become sick, kids risk hunger. Not all Native kids live in Tribal service areas and not all can easily access state programs. We have partnered with the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma provide emergency food boxes for Native kids who are students of Sovereign Community School—a Native charter school in Oklahoma City whose mission is to “understand and affirm the students’ roles as citizens of our many Native nations.”
We look forward to sponsoring many initiatives to support kids in need—in our own communities, in Oklahoma, and wherever Native children are in need of Aunties.
(Initiative Fundraising Period: July 2019-January 2020)
In our inaugural year as an organization, our first initiative focused on bringing attention to the generational trauma caused by separating children from their families. Our own tribal histories contain too many stories of such separation—our families have been torn apart by warfare, forced removal, boarding schools, adoption, and other such policies. Because we know firsthand the effects of such forced separation, our first initiative was to raise funds food for migrant children, most of whom are Indigenous, at the U.S.-Mexico Border.
As Aunties, we see migrant children as our Indigenous kin and as KIN (Kids in Need). We developed a partnership with the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma (RFBO) who used their network in Texas to ensure that the food was delivered. In 2019, we raised $25,000 for this cause, thanks to your contributions. As El Paso became able to fill the needs of the children, RFBO and the Aunties turned to other children in need.
Our Story
On June 25, 2019, we gathered together in Norman, Oklahoma to discuss the needs of migrant children separated from their families. Our tribes’ histories each contain terrible accounts of such forced separations—by removal, boarding schools, adoption, and other such policies. We know too well the generational trauma caused by forced separations. We had just heard the news that 1400 children were scheduled to move into Fort Sill, a site of Native imprisonment and later a Native boarding school. The migrant children—most of whom are Indigenous—touched our hearts. Like many others, we have felt bewildered and helpless.
Although plans to use Fort Sill as a shelter were placed on hold, we realized there was still much we could do to be of service to children at the border in addition to children here in Oklahoma. Knowing this would be only the first of many initiatives we wanted to work on together, The Auntie Project was born, and over the next few days, we organized and incorporated a nonprofit 501(c)3 and our founders became board members. Our board and supporters raised funds to provide food for Indigenous immigrant children. We raised over $20,000 for this initiative and a grateful to all of the Auntie out there who support our nonprofit.
ONGOING INITIATIVE
Our ongoing initiative is related to the pandemic. Daily life during the pandemic has not been easy for many. As schools move between face-to-face and virtual learning and parents lose work or become ill, kids risk hunger. Not all Native kids live in Tribal service areas and not all can easily access state programs. We have partnered with the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma to provide emergency food boxes for Native kids who are students students of Sovereign Community School—a Native charter school in Oklahoma City whose mission is to “understand and affirm the students’ roles as citizens of our many Native Nations.”
We look forward to sponsoring many initiatives over the years to come to support kids in need—in our communities, in Oklahoma, and wherever Native children are in need of Aunties.
“Native Sisters” Artwork by Brent Greenwood (Chickasaw, Ponca)
As a nonprofit organization rather than a sorority or membership organization, we ask that you support our mission through donations or volunteering when available. Please consider donating or fundraising within your community. Your donation will go the Navajo Nation Department of Family Services to provide supplies for Navajo families suffering from Covid-19.
We accept monetary donations only. Because of the many restrictions on donating material items such as canned food, diapers, blankets, etc., we ask that you donate funds here using PayPal or through our Facebook page.
Donations can be made via PayPal or through Facebook. We are a certified 501 (c)3 organization.
