Applicants must be an enrolled member or citizen of a state or federally recognized American Indian tribe or Alaska Native corporation, or of Native Hawaiian ancestry, a Canadian First Nations (status or non-status), Metis or Inuit to apply for the 2023 Forge Project Fellowship. Applicants may be asked to provide documentation of their Native citizenship or ancestry to confirm eligibility. At least two Fellows will come from the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians.

We designed this fellowship for Indigenous individuals working to honor Indigenous pasts as well as build Native futures, and this eligibility requirement is intended to ensure that this is who the fellowship serves. While we do not seek to be gatekeepers of Indigeneity, Forge Project recognizes that we are working within the limits of oppressive systems—including consumptive logics of white supremacy and capitalism—that operate with repressive boundaries and entangle choices that are antithetical to our overall mission.

This year, the eligibility requirements have been expanded to include members of state recognized tribes as well as existing eligibility for members of federally recognized tribes, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian peoples, and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit. We recognize that there are many distinct political realities that impact who is included within these designations and are actively working toward expanding access that is aligned with these lived experiences and tribal sovereignty.

We welcome feedback on how our application process can be more accessible and legible beyond the structures of occupying state(s), as well as firmly accountable to the relational and political practices of Indigeneity, kinship, and belonging. The first part of the application includes space for feedback—if you have the capacity and interest, please consider including information on your tribal community’s unique political and social context to better support inclusion and nuance in future applications and residency guidelines.

If you are mixed-race and also meet the qualifications above, then you are eligible to apply.

Our eligibility requirement is to be enrolled in a state or federally recognized tribe. We encourage you to fill out the first part of the application, which provides space for feedback and will allow us to assess our application guidelines for next year.

Unfortunately, at this time, we are limiting the fellowship to individuals enrolled in Indigenous nations occupied by the United States and Canada. We encourage you to fill out the first part of the application, which provides space for feedback and will allow us to assess our application guidelines for next year.

The Forge Project fellowship is intended to support Indigenous cultural workers broadly. The Fellowship supports artists, writers, musicians, scholars, organizers, activists, researchers, cultural practitioners, educators, and others who represent a diversity of expertise, participatory research and organizing models, and geographic contexts.

Fellows are invited to stay in residence at Forge for up to three weeks to make use of the studio, library, and lending collection and be on the land. We also understand that many of our fellows have full-time careers, families, and other responsibilities. Forge’s Curator of Indigenous Programs & Community Engagement Sarah Biscarra Dilley (yaktitʸutitʸu yaktiłhini [Northern Chumash]) will work with fellows to determine residency dates that work best for them.

Each Forge Project Fellow will receive $25,000 USD toward their practice and will have full access to the Forge Project site, libraries, and lending collection of living Indigenous artists during their fellowship. 2023 Fellows will also have the opportunity to present their work to the local Forge Project audience on site as well as a wider international audience via social media. Forge covers return travel, local transportation, accommodations, and all meals while fellows are in residence.

The cash award is unrestricted and can be used however you wish. Please note that this award is considered taxable income by the IRS.

The Forge Project fellowship does not require you to have a specific project in mind. You can apply with a project, a goal, or simply use the time to deepen your practice.

The Stockbridge-Munsee Community Fellowship does require that you apply with a specific project in mind that furthers the initiatives of the Cultural Affairs Department at Stockbridge-Munsee Community. For more information about the Cultural Affairs Department, please visit their website.

Stockbridge-Munsee tribal members are also welcome to apply without a project proposal. In this case these applications will be evaluated as part of the 2023 Forge Fellowship but will not be considered for the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Fellowship. Please review the application guidelines for more information.

Two letters are required from your references. Submittable will send an email with the contact information that you provide to each of your references, who can then upload their reference letters directly to Submittable. Applications without letters of recommendation will be considered incomplete. Please note that all letters of reference must be received in Submittable on the application due date.

No. The 2023 Forge Project Fellowship will be reviewed by a panel of five distinguished jurists.

Feel free to reach out to Curator of Indigenous Programs & Community Engagement Sarah Biscarra Dilley (yaktitʸutitʸu yaktiłhini [Northern Chumash]) at [email protected] or Editorial Projects Manager Frances Cathryn at [email protected] for one-on-one guidance. Forge Project is also hosting an information webinar Monday, January 20, at 6:30 PM ET via Zoom for a general overview of the process, what we’re looking for in an application, a quick statement writing how-to, plus an open Q&A to answer all your questions. Register online here.