Preserving cultural food knowledge on the pine ridge reservation

The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Native Americans awarded $1.543936 million to Makoce Agriculture Development, Inc. on September 30, 2025, under the Native American Programs (CFDA 93.612) to preserve cultural food knowledge on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Makoce Agriculture Development, Inc., a Native American-owned, tax-exempt nonprofit based in Porcupine, South Dakota, will deliver the funded activities through September 29, 2028, at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The award supports preservation and documentation of traditional food knowledge, cultural practices, and agricultural systems specific to the Lakota community on the reservation. The Native American Programs grant aims to promote economic and social self-sufficiency for American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations. Makoce operates across multiple federal grant initiatives; the organization received a prior $200,000 Project Grant from the Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service to develop and certify a Mobile Poultry Processing Unit for regional food processing capacity, and participates as a sub-recipient under subawards from the Intertribal Agriculture Council and The Reinvestment Fund to access loans, grants, and technical assistance for food-system infrastructure.