TRIBAL & CULTURAL
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON ARCHEOLOGY FIELD SCHOOL RESEARCH AT CONNLEY CAVES
Total: $31,000
Students attending University of Oregon Archeology Field School's Connley Caves program spend six weeks studying 13,000 years of human experience in the high desert. Connley Caves is a series of caves located south of Fort Rock within the homelands of the Klamath, Modoc, and Northern Paiute peoples. The field school course includes instruction in excavation, survey, mapping, research design, cutting edge methodologies, and cultural heritage management. The course is worth 12 credits, and upon completion, students are considered ready to pursue employment as professional archeologists. Since 2021, NewSun awarded six scholarships to Warm Springs Tribe students to participate in the program, and helped the field school pay for tech and infrastructure needed to run the program.
RIOS TO RIVERS: PADDLE TRIBLAL WATERS
Total: $25,000
In 2022, NewSun awarded seed funding to help launch the “Paddle Tribal Waters” initiative. The program is focused on teaching a group of Indigenous youth how to whitewater kayak in hopes of becoming the first people to ascend the Klamath River after the completion of the largest dam removal project in US history.
OREGON NATURAL DESERT ASSOCIATION TRIBAL STEWARDS PROGRAM
Total: $50,000+
In 2024, ONDA partnered with the Lomakatisi Restoration Project to provide paid opportunities for tribal youth to work on restoration and stewardship projects across ancestral lands in central and eastern Oregon. The program also provides connections with professionals working in conservation and natural resource management from tribal, government and non-profit sectors. NewSun also supported ONDA’s inaugural tribal stewards program in 2020.
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON - MUSEUM STUDIES SCHOLARSHIPS
Total: $5,986
Scholarships for two students to attend an intensive Museum Collections and Laboratory Methods course led by Chris Rubioux, the Director of the Klamath Tribes’ Culture and Heritage Department at the University of Oregon. Students were selected by the Klamath Tribes and the Museum of Natural and Cultural History.