In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, the Mockingbird Foundation has sent unsolicited contributions of $1,000 each to three important tribal groups:
- Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook Abenaki People, in New Hampshire
- Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, in North Dakota
- Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware, in Delaware
These entities were selected in recognition of their historical and historic roles in preserving, protecting, and educating others about their heritages in particular and, thereby, about the culturally rich and diverse first peoples of the Americas.
Native American Heritage Month – like this Thanksgiving week, and this challenging year generally – is an important time for inclusive engagement, supportive generosity, and reflective embrace. These grants are our small gesture in those directions.
In celebration of the national distribution of Phish fans as well as of Mockingbird donors, these checks mean that the Foundation has now provided grants in all fifty United States, plus the District of Columbia. We encourage each fan to join the celebration, by finding and supporting a tribe near you.
The funds sent, like all Mockingbird grants, are intended to support music education. We anticipate that the grants will help fund materials, repair, and maintenance of instruments and equipment used in educational, cultural, and other events and programs, though no such specific strings are attached and each entity will deploy the funds as most appropriate for their local needs in and experiences of music education.
The Mockingbird Foundation is the leading provider of historical information about Phish and its music, having cultivated intellectual property through phish.net since 1994. A leading nonprofit grantmaker in music education for children, the Foundation has now made 312 grants totaling $1,018,243.40, and will announce its 21st round of competitive grants near year-end. Funds for grantmaking are generated through donations from a loyal base of fans, as well as through books, recordings, artwork, merchandise, and special events. The Foundation has been operated entirely by volunteer fans of the band, without any salaries or paid staff, since its inception in 1996.
Phish first formed in 1983 at Goddard College in Vermont, and developed a large and fervent fanbase through tireless touring and unpredictable, kinetic live performances. They will close 2016 with four shows at Madison Square Garden, and open 2017 with three in Mexico.