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This CDFI Is Helping Indigenous Artists Level Up Their Businesses

The Native American Community Development Corporation’s artist loan program has provided $35,000 to Native artists around the country.

By Connie Aitcheson 

Sammy Jo Bird never expected to find her calling as an artist. 

Born and raised on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana, Bird has been horseriding since she was three. She’s an accomplished horsewoman on the Indian National Finals Rodeo circuit, where her family is rodeo royalty: She was the Ladies Barrel Racing 2017 INFR Tour Champion, she and her sister won the 2013 INFR Women’s All-Around Champion titles, her mother has won other titles, and her father has been inducted into the INFR Hall of Fame.

But thanks to a loan from the Native American Community Development Corporation, Bird has found a career painting selling vibrant, colorful artwork that celebrates her love of horses and her Native culture.

Soon after Bird graduated from the University of Montana Western’s horsemanship and business programs, a family friend was diagnosed with cancer. When community members requested donations for an auction to help cover the medical bills, Bird picked up a paintbrush for the first time since high school.

“In my heart, I felt like I wanted to help,” says Bird, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation. “So I actually did a painting for her … and it was like the high seller of the whole entire auction. I was like, ‘Holy cow, that’s awesome.’”

Bird’s painting sold for $1,100. Soon afterward, she says, she was inundated by requests from other charitable groups to donate paintings to their benefits: “For the first couple months of my art journey, it was all donations.”

Bird said she couldn’t finish a painting fast enough. No sooner had she finished a painting than it was snapped up. But she had never planned to become a professional artist, and she needed funds to buy paint supplies, canvases and eventually get a studio. 

So she approached the Native American Community Development Corporation – and she didn’t have to go far to do so. The nonprofit organization is located in Browning, Montana, on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. 

Through an artist loan program funded by a grant from the First People’s Fund, NACDC has assisted over 60 Native artists and financed $35,000 in loans. The nonprofit pairs these loans with financial literacy, credit counseling, credit builder assistance and professional development for Native artists.

Federally designated as a community development financial institution, the NACDC says its mission is to “remove the barriers that exists in Indian Country that prohibit the flow of capital and credit.” It’s worked with Native American artists since 1986, when its late executive director Elouise Cobell created the Harvest Moon Ball to showcase Native American art and artists. 

Today, the NACDC also runs the annual Celebration of Native Plains Artists art show, which features Native artists.

As accomplished as Bird is in rodeo, she felt she didn’t have a chance to approach a traditional bank for an artist loan.

“Not for art,” the champion barrel racer says. “I could have done it for my cattle, possibly, but I would never have had the bravery, because art’s a hard market. If you go there and you ask for the loan, they want to see your revenue and everything.”

But the NACDC still encouraged her to apply, which she did in 2017. 

Current executive director Angie Main says the organization felt driven to offer a line of credit to Native artists after a market study about a decade ago showed the extent of the need.

“There [were] a lot of challenges listed, and one of them was very limited opportunities for access to capital for small amount of loans – you know, bead work or raw hide for drums – to keep their business successful,” Main says.

The loan is open to all Native American artists to build on their work. They can open a business, enlarge an existing business, pay entrée fee to an art show, pay transportation to an art show or otherwise use the funds to level up their work. 

“These are risker business loans, and we take all the risks,” says Main. The terms of the loan depend upon the artists and when they’re able to repay. The NACDC is flexible regarding repayment, Main says; they can take a piece of art as collateral, and repayment usually comes when an artwork is sold. 

“I felt like I had a good business plan. I was inspired and excited to talk to them about it, and they were excited to hear it,” says Bird. “I wasn’t nervous to go talk to them about stuff. Them being Native American and in them [being] entrepreneurs and stuff, I felt relatable, like I wasn’t necessarily begging them for money or anything like that.”

That cash infusion was crucial to letting her concentrate on her fledgling art business. 

“I wouldn’t have had the space, I wouldn’t have had the studio, I wouldn’t have been able to take the art to the next level,” says Bird. “I might be like, OK, I gotta get a real job now because the funds aren’t coming in.’ I don’t think I would have been able to take it to the professional level that I am at now.”

Bird says she’s thankful to be able to be a professional painter while still riding horses. 

“I live such a blessed life because that’s what I do for a living — two things that truly feed my soul and that I love to do,” Bird says.

This story is part of our series, CDFI Futures, which explores the community development finance industry through the lenses of equity, public policy and inclusive community development. The series is developed in partnership with Next City.