Building Futures Rooted in Culture: 2025 Bush Prize Native Nations Honorees Announced

The Bush Prize: Native Nations honors Native-led organizations shaping stronger futures for their communities through creative collaboration and care. They are not new to this work, but have been leading change by creating practical, long-term solutions that reflect their community values and lived experiences for years.

Each year, the Bush Prize: Native Nations honors organizations from Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the 23 Native Nations that share those homelands. The 2025 honorees —Makoce Agriculture Development, Minneapolis American Indian Center, and Turtle Mountain Impact —reflect the strength, ingenuity, and vision that continue to guide Indigenous communities forward.

This program is made possible through a partnership between the Bush Foundation and four community grant partners: the Good Relatives Collaborative, Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, Strengthen ND, and the South Dakota Community Foundation. Each partner shapes the program to reflect local voices and ensure that equity remains at the center of every decision. Honorees are selected by an independent panel of respected Native community members, and each organization receives $250,000 in unrestricted funding to continue its work.

Meet the 2025 honorees!

Makoce Agriculture Development: Reclaiming Food Systems and Sovereignty

At Pine Ridge, Makoce Agriculture Development is growing more than crops; it’s growing self-determination. The organization’s work centers on restoring Indigenous food systems and reconnecting communities to the land through sustainable agriculture, traditional knowledge, and economic opportunity.

Through their initiatives, the Food Systems Institute, Food Hub, Hemp Production, Regenerative Farm, and the Oceti Sakowin Food Systems Alliance, Makoce is building a local food network that feeds people physically, culturally, and spiritually. Their work is guided by the belief that food is medicine and that revitalizing Indigenous agriculture is key to community health and sovereignty.

Minneapolis American Indian Center: A Home for Community and Culture

Since the 70s, the Minneapolis American Indian Center (MAIC) has served as a central hub for the Twin Cities’ urban Native community. MAIC serves close to 10,000 people every year through its various community programs.

In 2024, MAIC reopened after a $32.5 million renovation that renewed the building’s purpose and expanded its ability to serve. The center includes community gathering spaces, Gatherings Café, Two Rivers Gallery, and the Woodland Indian Craft Gifts shop. Guided by a majority Native leadership team, MAIC continues to reflect the spirit of those who built it, a vision of self-reliance, mutual support, and belonging in an urban setting.

Turtle Mountain Impact: Empowerment as Prevention

At Turtle Mountain, IMPACT: Empowerment Self Defense is creating a safer future through education and awareness. As the first Indigenous-led IMPACT chapter on sovereign land, the program serves about 7,000 members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

Turtle Mountain Impact teaches empowerment self-defense, assertive communication, and safety strategies to women, girls, Two-Spirit people, and others facing high rates of violence. What makes their approach effective is that it comes from within the community, led by people who live these realities every day. Through partnerships with tribal programs, schools, and local organizations, they are helping people reclaim their safety and right to live without fear.

The Bush Prize: Native Nations uplifts organizations that show what community leadership looks like in practice, people working together to heal, build, and innovate in ways that honor their history and future. Each honoree reflects the strength of their Nation and the relationships that sustain it.

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