The Christensen Fund has announced that it is joining the Decolonizing Wealth Project and the California Endowment in establishing a fund to assist Indigenous Californians’ efforts to preserve tribal history and advance the state’s effort to atone for its history of violence and wrongdoing against Native Americans. 

The California Truth and Healing Fund provides California Native American families, communities, tribes, and organizations with resources to engage in opportunities associated with the goals of the landmark California Truth & Healing Council. The deadline for the first round of proposals is June 15, 2022, and the deadline to apply for the second round of proposals is September 15, 2022. With an initial $500,000 investment from the Decolonizing Wealth Project, the California Endowment, and the Christensen Fund, the fund aims to raise more than $5 million.

The fund is guided by an advisory board of Native Californians, including Pechanga Band of Indians tribal chairman Mark Macarro and Truth & Healing Council-member Kouslaa Kessler-Mata (Yak Tityu Tityu Chumash). The project has partnered with the California Truth & Healing Council, which Governor Gavin Newsom established in 2019 to “clarify the record—and provide their historical perspective—on the troubled relationship between tribes and the state.”

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