Congratulations to Our Three 2026 Bush Prize: Native Nations Honorees
Join us in celebrating our three 2026 Bush Prize: Native Nations Honorees, Oaya Luta Okolakiciye, Osceti Sakowin Community Academy, and Indigenous People’s Task Force! These organizations are highly valued within their communities based on their histories, innovation, and community problem-solving.
Bush Prize: Native Nations is an honoring of Native-led nonprofit organizations in Minnesota, North and South Dakota, as well as the 23 Native Nations that share the same geography, who have shown:
- Transformational impact
- History of creative and community-led solutions
- Culture of Creative Problem-Solving.
Honorees are selected by an independent grant review panel of respected Native community members from the region. Each organization has demonstrated the values of being a good relative, caring for their local communities, and advancing change in their communities. Please join us in honoring the following Bush Prize: Native Nations recipients.
Oaye Luta Okolakiciye
Oaye Luta Okolakiciye is a Lakota-based organization that promotes healing by providing continuum substance abuse prevention, intervention, and recovery education reconnecting inherent cultural potential while instilling hope, promoting wellness, and revitalizing cultural identity development in youth, adults, families and communities.
Oceti Sakowin Community Academy
Located on the ancestral homelands of the Lakota people, the Oceti Sakowin Community Academy is at the forefront of that movement–creating a new model for Indigenous education that empowers students to be “unapologetically Indigenous.” Through a curriculum that is grounded in the thought and philosophy of Lakota culture, OSCA’s mission is to provide an inclusive and diverse education that centers on rigorous, culturally-relevant instruction in a Lakota, community-centered framework.
Indigenous Peoples Task Force
Founded in 1987, Indigenous People’s Task Force was originally created to develop and implement culturally appropriate HIV education and direct services to the Native community in Minnesota. This mission has since expanded to include a variety of culturally grounded services that support the Indigenous Peoples of South Minneapolis and beyond. IPTF provides a holistic approach to serving all ages of community needs, with programs that address housing, traditional and cultural teachings, mentorship, work readiness training, youth programming, and even baby food production.
