The Native Arts & Cultures Foundation launched
today as the first permanently-endowed, national foundation
dedicated to supporting, developing and revitalizing Native
artistic expression. President and Chief Executive Officer
Tara Lulani Arquette leads the Portland-based Foundation to
foster indigenous arts in American Indian, Native Hawaiian and
Alaska Native communities.

The Foundation is funded by an initial $10 million commitment
from the Ford Foundation for endowment and operating funds.
The Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians, based near Sacramento, Calif.
committed an additional $1.5 million, and has announced a
matching grant of a $1.5 million more.

"The arts have always played a very significant role in Native
cultures," Arquette said. "What connects one generation to the
next is often communicated through the arts, and the NACF will
be a powerful instrument for the continuance of Native
cultures."

Arquette, a Native Hawaiian, brings 20 years of management
experience to her role at the new Foundation. Most recently she
served as CEO and executive director of the Native Hawaiian
Hospitality Association, a private, nonprofit organization she
led for the past four years. She has long been an advocate on
behalf of Native communities, supporting Native Hawaiian social
progress, economic development and self-determination, and along
the way has intersected with counterparts in the American Indian
and Alaskan Native communities.

The formation of the Foundation was guided by a Native
"leadership circle" and its board of trustees is majority Native.
Members of the board include: 

* Walter Echo-Hawk, board chair; Pawnee. He is an attorney, tribal
judge, and former senior attorney with the Native American
Rights Fund.

* Elizabeth Woody, board secretary; Navajo/Warm Springs/Wasco/Yakama.
She is a poet, writer, visual artist and the former director
and developer of the Indigenous Leadership Program at the
nonprofit organization Ecotrust.

* Joy Harjo, board treasurer; Mvskoke/Creek. She is a poet and
musician.

* Marshall McKay, member. He is a tribal chairman of the Rumsey
Band of Wintun Indians.

* Letitia Chambers, member. She is a retired senior executive
and former U.S. representative to the United Nations General
Assembly.

"In Native cultures and values, the We is always stronger than
the I," Arquette said. "The NACF is an organization whose essence
and operation are informed from the outset by Native values."

Guidelines for grant making will be established in the months
ahead. For more information, please visit Native Arts and Culture Foundation.

Contact:
Chris Nelson, Pyramid Communications
206.940.1605 (mobile), cnelson@pyramidcommunications.com