2025 Community Impact Awards Celebrate Excellence in Indigenous Cultural Institutions
CHEROKEE, NC – The Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums (ATALM) in partnership with the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies presented the 2025 Community Impact Awards at the International Conference of Indigenous Archives, Libraries, and Museums held in Cherokee, North Carolina. The Community Impact Awards Program recognizes outstanding achievements by Indigenous cultural institutions across North America, celebrating initiatives that demonstrate exceptional community engagement, innovation, and overall excellence.
Three institutions were honored for their ability to inspire and serve as models for others. Learn more about their work below.
Bethel Broadcasting Inc. (Bethel, Alaska) is recognized for its powerful “Nutaarluki, “Make Them New” initiative. This ongoing project is dedicated to digitizing, preserving, and sharing decades of historical recordings of Yup’ik and Cup’ik life, language, and culture. Since 2016, the dedicated staff have worked to secure funding, meticulously catalog and prioritize materials, and make the recordings accessible online. With over 3,000 videos already digitized, this project ensures that vital Indigenous knowledge and history remain accessible for future generations.
The award was accepted by Gabby Hiestand Salgado, Multimedia Director, KYUK
The Bristol Bay Native Corporation (Anchorage, Alaska) is honored for its “Bristol Bay Online!” project. This initiative focuses on preserving and sharing traditional Native place names from the Bristol Bay region. Inspired by the late Alaska Native leader Harvey Samuelsen, who championed cultural preservation and the connection to the land, the site offers a growing collection of place names rooted in the area’s Indigenous languages. This resource celebrates the region’s heritage and ensures these names are passed down while elders can still share their knowledge.
The award was accepted by Francisca Demoski (VP) and Andria Agli (Sr. VP) of Shareholder & Corporate Relations, BBNC
The Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways (Mt. Pleasant, Michigan), operated by the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan, receives the award for their “Reclaiming the Narrative: Harvesting & Digitizing the U.S. Indian Industrial Boarding School Records” project. The project focused on collecting records from the Mt. Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School. This undertaking is dedicated towards collecting and digitizing records from the Mt. Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School, contributing to historical truth-telling and healing.
The award was accepted by William Johnson, Curator / Operations Manager and Mindy Bailey, Digitization Specialist, Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways
Awardees were selected by an independent National Committee of Indigenous cultural experts and professionals. Support for the 2025 Community Impact Awards is made in part from the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.
