Five Natives named Bush Fellows

The foundation recently announced this year’s Bush Fellows, with chosen honorees across the upper Midwest receiving up to $150,000 to improve their knowledge, skills and talent.

The Bush Fellowship is a self-designed leadership program in which applicants are directed to evaluate what they need to do to become stronger leaders and to develop plans toward that end.

Up to 30 Bush Fellows are selected each year to receive financial support for their leadership plan. They come from all sectors, including government, nonprofits and business.

Of the 29 Bush Fellows for 2025, five are Native, from tribes located in Minnesota and the Dakotas. “What sets them apart is their bold vision for what is possible and their commitment to making it real,” the Bush Foundation said in a press release.

Leya Hale, of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate and Diné nations, is planning to use her Bush Fellowship to develop her Dakota language skills and build on her filmmaking expertise. An award-winning documentarian, she’s won acclaim for her films “The People’s Protectors” and “Bring Her Home.” Hale also says she’ll develop a global network of Indigenous creators to reshape the future of media.

John Little, of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, has spent nearly four years as the director of Native Recruitment and Alumni Engagement at the University of South Dakota. In that time he’s worked to increase the enrollment of Native students and help them feel a sense of belonging and connectedness. He says he’ll use his Bush Fellowship to better hone his leadership, fundraising and organizational design skills.

Lori Pourier of the Oglala Lakota Nation, is in her 26th year as CEO and president of First People’s Fund, which has invested in Indigenous artists as culture bearers and community leaders. She’s launched the Rolling Rez Arts Bus (which doubles as a mobile bank) and developed the Oglala Lakota Artspace. Her Bush Fellowship will help her explore socially responsible investment strategies that align with Native values and keep more generations of artists sustained.

As the deputy director of the White Earth Nation, Curtis Rogers oversees programs that cover many aspects of his tribe’s community, including economic development and public safety. With his Bush Fellowship, Rogers says he’ll deepen his knowledge of policy and legal matters to eventually help with land reclamation and incorporating traditional practices toward further tribal sovereignty.

Megan Treuer, of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, is currently a tribal court judge, with intentions of revitalizing Indigenous justice. She plans to use her Bush Fellowship to build up her fluency in the Ojibwe language, work toward personal renewal and document the history and future of Anishinabe justice traditions.

The Bush Foundation is named for Archie and Edyth Bush, who founded it in 1953. The organization supports efforts across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and 23 Native tribes or nations within the upper Midwest.