Clara Caufield, NSNT staffer, receives Humanities Montana Grant for highlighting Northern Cheyenne history

MISSOULA, Mont. ― Humanities Montana recently awarded $65,800 in support of humanities projects across the state through their mini-grant, community project grant, and public humanities fellowship funding opportunities. The grant programs support research, public programming, and community projects that create collaborative opportunities for Montanans of all ages and backgrounds to explore and interact with the humanities. The humanities enable individuals and communities to reflect and learn from our shared human experiences. 

“Humanities Montana supports community-inspired and community-driven efforts to bring people together to learn, collaborate and grow through meaningful conversations and humanities activities,” said Megan Hill Sundy, Humanities Montana grants and evaluation director. “By supporting these projects, we’re able to expand the scope, reach and impact of the humanities in Montana through partnerships and respond directly to community needs. These recent grantees are leading efforts to create civic engagement opportunities for youth, explore other cultures, and dive deeper into the history of Montana and what makes us who we are today.”

In March, Humanities Montana funded the following public humanities fellowship as part of their first major grant cycle of 2025: A Cheyenne Review: Producing Historical Articles Related to the Reservation Era, Clara Caufield, Lame Deer, MT.

The Northern Cheyenne have a rich and dramatic history. Though small in number, they were extremely adaptive, resilient, and strong. When defeated and forced to give up a nomadic lifestyle and placed on a reservation, their appeal as worthwhile historical subjects largely dropped. Yet, the reservation era presents some of their greatest challenges. The Northern Cheyenne have not only survived but made remarkable accomplishments during the Reservation period, much of which has not been recorded.

Clara Caufield will collaborate with professional educators and traditional elders to record and share these stories and histories with tribal members, neighbors and friends, and the world through published articles and public presentations across multiple school districts within Northern Cheyenne communities.  “Thanks to this grant from Humanities Montana, contemporary Northern Cheyenne will research, document and disseminate some history of the reservation-era, much of which has not been put down in writing, surviving through the oral tradition,” Caufield commented.

Key Northern Cheyenne elders, conversant in the language and oral history will serve as advisors to the project including: Dr. Richard Littlebear, retired Chief Dull Knife College (CDKC) President; Mina Seminole, CDKC historical/cultural researcher; Lavera Wolfblack and Josephine Firecrow, CDKC language specialists and Lynwood Tallbull, esteemed tribal orthnologist/story keeper and teller. Caufield emphasized “This project does not belong solely to me, it belongs to the Northern Cheyenne people.”

Humanities Montana is currently accepting applications from eligible organizations for Mini-grant requests up to $2,000, Community Project grant requests between $2,000 and $10,000, and Film + Video grants for requests up to $10,000. To learn more, contact Humanities Montana via phone (406) 243-6067 or email megan.sundy@humanitiesmontana.org.

Humanities Montana is Montana’s state humanities council. With a mission to serve Montana’s multicultural communities through stories and conversation, Humanities Montana offers experiences that nurture imagination and ideas by speaking to Montanans’ diverse history, literature and philosophy. Established in 1972, Humanities Montana is one of 56 councils across the nation that the National Endowment for the Humanities created in order to better infuse the humanities directly and effectively into public life. They produce, fund, create and support humanities-based projects and programs, eye-opening cultural experiences and meaningful conversations.

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Media Contact: Bailey Clarke
bailey.clarke@humanitiesmontana.org, 406.243.6455

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