October 12, 2026
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Press Release
New York, NY (October 12, 2026) — Today, Decolonizing Wealth Project (DWP) announced the awardees of the 2026 Indigenous Earth Fund (IEF), comprised of 35 organizations working to unlock resources for Indigenous-led climate and conservation advocacy efforts. This $1 million funding round, powered by Liberated Capital, DWP’s giving community, will support Tribes and Indigenous organizations across the United States advancing climate solutions rooted in ancestral wisdom and ecological stewardship.
Alongside this year’s grant awards, DWP released Land As Medicine: A Practical Guide for Funders, Advisors, and Donors Exploring Land Return as a Reparative Giving Strategy, now available to help the philanthropic community understand the urgency, possibility, and impact of funding Tribal land return.
Land As Medicine draws on DWP's expertise as an Indigenous-led organization, with over 65 years of combined grantmaking experience across the team and their experience from the first two years of its California Tribal Land Return Initiative. The guide offers funders, advisors, and donors case studies, historical context, and practical steps to start funding land return. The guide's central argument is that land return is a reparative giving strategy that reaches well beyond climate and conservation into economic development, food sovereignty, mental health, youth and education, and arts and culture. That means funders in almost any issue area have a pathway to support Tribal sovereignty.
As a leader in the philanthropic community, DWP has invested over $17 million in Indigenous communities across the United States through IEF and other funds, including its California Tribal Land Return Initiative, which provides both capital and technical assistance to California Tribes working to acquire land. Through the Initiative, DWP has granted $2.35M to a cohort representing thirty-one Tribes and Tribal organizations, supporting the return of over 17,600 acres of ancestral lands with combined estimated purchase prices exceeding $36 million, based on reported purchase amounts and acquisition budgets.
DWP is led by CEO and Founder Edgar Villanueva (Lumbee), a 2025 TIME 100 Climate Leader and New York Times Climate Forward Changemaker. Continued investment in DWP will help it further scale Indigenous advocacy efforts rooted in ancestral knowledge, youth leadership, and a range of Indigenous-led climate and land return initiatives.
“For Indigenous communities, land is medicine. It sustains our cultures, nourishes our families, and connects generations,” said Edgar Villanueva, Founder and CEO of Decolonizing Wealth Project and Liberated Capital. “Our Indigenous Earth Fund grantees are putting ancestral knowledge into action to address the climate crisis and build thriving futures for their communities. With these grants and our first-of-its-kind Land As Medicine guide, we’re inviting philanthropy to deepen its commitment: trust Indigenous leadership, move flexible resources, and support the return of ancestral lands. Wherever your giving is focused, land return offers a powerful opportunity to advance healing.”
Highlights of this year’s grantees include, but are not limited to:
- California Indigenous Youth Collective: restoring Indigenous youth leadership in land and water stewardship through culture, healing, and collective power
- Ekvn-Yefolecv Maskoke Ecovillage: revitalizing the Maskoke language and culture while restoring ancestral homelands through ecologically regenerative lifeways
- Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission: developing a Kuskokwim Tribal Salmon Recovery Plan to restore salmon populations and strengthen climate–resilient fisheries and communities
- Native Conservancy: advancing Indigenous food sovereignty through Oceanback and Native Sea Trust while restoring marine ecosystems and revitalizing traditional food practices
- Nihikeya’s Diné Agroecology Project: addressing food and water insecurity on the Dzil Yijiin (Black Mesa) region of the Navajo Nation through the use of local knowledge, ancestral wisdom, and innovative solutions emerging through regenerative practices.
- Tanka Fund: supporting the integration of regenerative and climate-resilient Buffalo stewardship practices. This is the only known national organization that works solely with independent Indigenous family- and community-owned Buffalo ranches.
- Water Protector Legal Collective: providing legal representation, advocacy, and community education to defend and protect sacred sites and Indigenous land, support Water Protectors seeking to defend the Earth, and uphold Indigenous sovereignty
“Tribes and Native organizations across the nation are doing extraordinary work to protect their lands, advance food sovereignty, and preserve their cultures,” said Dr. Dana Arviso, Director, Indigenous Programs, Decolonizing Wealth Project. “The 225 proposals we received this year combined total request of nearly $10 million. They reflected a full range of earth and climate interventions, from salmon recovery and Buffalo stewardship to youth leadership and the defense of sacred sites. We’re proud to fund 35 of them, and many more strong projects are ready for support. We invite individuals and funders interested in resourcing proven climate and nature-protecting activities to reach out to learn more about our Earth and Climate funding priority.”
To access Land As Medicine: A Practical Guide for Funders, Advisors, and Donors Exploring Land Return as a Reparative Giving Strategy, please visit: https://www.decolonizingwealth.com/land-as-medicine-guide#
For those interested in learning more about the Indigenous Earth Fund and DWP, please visit: https://www.decolonizingwealth.com/initiatives/indigenous-earth-fund
About the Decolonizing Wealth Project:
Decolonizing Wealth Project (DWP) is transforming wealth into collective wellbeing. Established in 2018 and led by Edgar Villanueva, an Indigenous award-winning author and expert on wealth, spirituality, and social justice, DWP operates through three key strategies: sector transformation, storytelling and culture, and reparative giving. DWP’s work has radically transformed the philanthropic sector and has facilitated the distribution of nearly $1 billion for social justice efforts. Through its donor community, Liberated Capital, DWP has granted over $31 million to support economic solidarity, wellbeing, and earth and climate efforts primarily led by Black and Indigenous communities. In May 2025, DWP launched its 10-year Moonshot strategy to influence $1 trillion in reparative giving by 2035.
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