Mesa Media, Inc.’s Partners

KUYI Hopi Radio and The Hopi Foundation

http://www.kuyi.net/
http://www.hopifoundation.org/

The first Hopi radio, KUYI, made its on-air debut on December 20, 2000.  In Hopi, “kuyi” means water. Water is life. KUYI has certainly become part of everyday life on the Hopi Reservation and beyond.  Hopi radio offers a new way to tell stories, an age-old Hopi tradition. Morning broadcasts are spoken in the Hopi language and the music during these first hours of the day is primarily traditional, including songs from local Hopi musicians.  Listeners are also exposed to the ideas and music of many other cultures during programs such as Native Voice. Hopi radio helps young people to learn respect for Hopi tradition as it preserves the language and culture in a modern format. KUYI functions as a non-profit group under the Hopi Foundation.  Their mission is to “have a positive effect on the lives of the people living on the Hopi Reservation and in surrounding communities through the public discussion of issues and events that will enlighten the community.”

Footprints of the Ancestors Project
Northern Arizona University, Department of Anthropology

http://www4.nau.edu/footprints/  http://home.nau.edu/sbs/anthro/facultyresearch.asp#footprints

 Education specialist, Joelle Clark, and Anthropologist George Gumerman, Jr. established the Hopi Footprints project.  The goal of the project is to improve K-6 classroom teaching practice while creating a standards-based Hopi culture curriculum in CD-ROM and web site formats. Many teachers and elders across the Hopi Reservation identified topics that were important for Hopi students to learn.  The Footprints project guided teachers through the process of developing their own curriculum.  The follow-up project, The Footprints of the Ancestors, now works to expand opportunities for high school students by bringing them together with a team of Hopi elders, Hopi cultural specialists, and scholars in an interactive, experiential, and collaborative learning experience of Hopi culture and history.

Footprints of the Ancestors Project. From left to right: Anita, Joel, and Michael. Photos courtesy of Footprints of the Ancestors Project.


Museum of Northern Arizona
http://www.musnaz.org/

The mission of the Museum of Northern Arizona is to inspire a sense of love and responsibility for the beauty and diversity of the Colorado Plateau through collecting, studying, interpreting, and preserving the region’s natural and cultural heritage.  Every year, the museum partners with Native American artists, educators, and professionals at the Heritage Program Marketplaces.  Mesa Media displays and distributes CDs, DVDs, books and other learning materials each year in the marketplace. Ferrell Secakuku served on the MNA Board for two years.

Past Funders

Seva Foundation
http://www.seva.org/site/PageServer

For nearly 25 years, Seva has partnered with Native Americans who are working to build healthy communities, sustain their culture, and protect their sacred lands and the environment.  Seva also works worldwide, building solutions to poverty and disease. Their approach is to build partnerships that respect the cultures and traditional wisdom of the people we serve.  Seva focuses on solutions that can be sustained by local communities such as Mesa Media’s work to produce learning materials in the Hopi language. Eskwelí to the SEVA Foundation for supporting Mesa Media's efforts to produce CDs and DVDs locally on the Hopi Reservation.

American Composers Forum
First Nations Composer Initiative
http://www.composersforum.org/index.cfm

The First Nations Composer Initiative (FNCI) is dedicated to the encouragement and propagation of American Indian, First Nations, Alaska Natives, Indigenous music and musical traditions in all of its forms, and in the appreciation, understanding, and facilitation of all Indigenous music for future generations of Indigenous Peoples and for the enjoyment of audiences everywhere and in all media. The First Nations Composer Initiative project is supported through the Ford Foundation's Indigenous Knowledge, Expressive culture grant program of the American Composers Forum. Mesa Media received a grant award from FNCI to produce our CD of Hopi lullabies entitled Taatawi Puwvitstawi pu Tiitaptawi: Hopi lullaby and game songs. Eskwelí to FNCI for making this project possible.

Arizona Humanities Council
http://www.azhumanities.org/



Stories convey our histories, traditions, social mores, beliefs and insights about what it means to be human. The Arizona Humanities Council creates opportunities for sharing these diverse stories through critical thinking and public discussion, to better understand and appreciate one another, so that we can make informed decisions about our collective future.  The Hopihiniwtipu: Hopi History booklet and CD was made possible in part by a grant from the Arizona Humanities Council. Eskwelí for all of their support. In addition, several private citizens provided matching funds. Eskwelí to all of you who made this project a reality!


The Christensen Fund
http://www.christensenfund.org/

In 2012, the Christensen Fund awarded Mesa Media a grant to document knowledge from Hopi elders about traditional Hopi agricultural systems and to publish a set of Conversational Hopi CDs and workbooks to help get this information to the public. Culturally relevant learning materials such as these not only stimulate interest in learning the Hopi language, they deepend one's connection with the teachings that define them as Hopi. We are deeply grateful to the Christensen Fund for their support for this exciting project. Eskwelí!


The Native Youth and Culture Fund
First Nations Development Institute
http://www.firstnations.org/

Hopi youth will explore the Hopi language while reconnecting with Hopi elders during this project to provide opportunities for youth. The Native Youth and Culture Fund project will also recruit youth to create artwork for the upcoming Conversational Hopi workbook and CD series and will mentor youth to learn the art of documenting traditional Hopi knowledge.

The Confluence Fund
Flagstaff Community Foundation
http://www.azfoundation.org/affiliates/northern/flagstaff/confluence.shtml

Mesa Media, Inc. was awarded a capacity building grant to further the scope and reach of the project to document Hopi agricultural knowledge and create language materials. Mesa Media, Inc. will sponsor a training workshop for Hopi community members who seek to incorporate Hopi language classes and activities in their communities. 


Tyson Winarski, esq.

As a patent attorney, Tyson Winarski provided an in-kind grant of $20,000 of pro-bono work to incorporate Mesa Media as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.  Tyson continues to work pro-bono to help Mesa Media obtain copyrights and rights-assignments for all of the CDs, DVDs, and books.

IBM Community Grants

Through Mesa Media’s partnering with Dr. Daniel Winarski, an IBM Senior Technical Staff Member, two IBM On-Demand Community Grants were obtained for Hopi Jr./Sr. High School.  The high school received two laptop computers both in 2007 and 2008. In addition, IBM continues to provide support so the the Hopi Puzzlebooks, Volumes 1 and 2, can be reproduced and distributed throughout the Hopi community. Eskwelí to IBM for your generous donations!

Private Citizens

In 2008, Donna Robinson Winarski and Daniel Winarski sponsored Mesa Media’s President, Anita Poleahla, as an AISES Sequoyah Fellow at the 30^th Annual AISES National Conference in Anaheim, California. Mr. and Mrs. Winarski continue to provide unending support for Mesa Media's efforts to revitalize Hopi language. Eskwelí for all of their assistance!