HEART Training for Native Communities

Heritage Emergency and Response Training (HEART) for Native Communities

• Dates: April 7–11, 2025
  

• Location: Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC.
  
• Application Deadline: Wednesday, February 5, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. EST(link is external and opens in new win
• Organized by: Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative, Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, and FEMA’s Office of Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation, co-sponsors of the Heritage Emergency National Task Force (HENTF)
• With funding from: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
• Apply Here!(link is external and opens in new win

In 2015 the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative (SCRI) became the co-sponsor, with FEMA’s Office of Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation (OEHP), of the Heritage Emergency National Task Force (HENTF), a public–private partnership created to protect our nation’s cultural heritage. Both SCRI and OEHP are committed to expanding training for cultural stewards, first responders, and emergency managers to better prepare them to work together to address emergencies and disasters that affect cultural institutions and historic sites.

In 2017 SCRI hosted the inaugural Heritage Emergency and Response Training (HEART) for 25 participants selected from a range of museums, libraries, archives, and emergency management organizations representing 21 states and the territory of Puerto Rico. In March and June of 2018, HENTF brought HEART to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, respectively. In total, SCRI and HENTF have hosted eight unique HEART training programs and continue to engage with its 150+ graduate member network.

As this emerging program gains more recognition, there are calls for course adaptation to serve specific audiences. Network alumni and Native communities have expressed a need for a HEART program that integrates culturally appropriate practices with tested methods of preparedness and response. Developed through a partnership with the National Museum of the American Indian, this new program builds on the existing HEART curriculum and includes relevant information for those working with cultural collections.

The Training Structure

Participants will travel to Washington, DC, for a week of hands-on training at the National Museum of American Indian, April 7 to 11, 2025. Sessions will provide realistic, hands-on training in damage assessment, rapid documentation, emergency evacuation and salvage, teambuilding, and more. Pre-readings and optional supplemental activities will be offered prior to the start of the training. After the training, participants are invited to join the larger HEART alumni network and participate in future online educational sessions that reinforce concepts covered during the in-person training.

Expected Outcomes

This training opportunity focuses on supporting US-based professionals who work with Native communities and their cultural heritage. Participants will gain skills and experience in disaster response and increase their capacity to protect Indigenous material culture.

At the end of the training, participants will be able to:

• assess and manage risks to cultural heritage in emergency situations;
• understand the impact that disasters have on tribal cultural heritage;
• create or improve existing emergency plans for their collections;
• take preventive actions to reduce disaster risk and improve response;
• secure, salvage, and stabilize a variety of cultural materials;
• understand the makeup of a response team and learn how to coordinate effective actions during crises that affect cultural heritage;
• communicate successfully with the various actors involved in an emergency response;
• identify relevant programs and services that can assist cultural heritage organizations in the event of a disaster; and
• understand how first aid for cultural heritage supports recovery in affected communities and how it fits into the National Planning Frameworks.

Travel, Accommodations, and Living Expenses

There is no fee for participating in this training. Lodging expenses for all selected participants will be covered and SCRI has some funds available to subsidize travel costs; you will be able to request an amount once selected for the program. Lunch will be provided during the in-person training; however, participants will be expected to cover the rest of their meal costs and all incidental expenses.

Who should participate?

We encourage participation by both cultural stewards and first responder/emergency managers. Staff from the organizing partners will select 25 participants from cultural heritage and first responder/emergency management organizations who work with Native communities in the United States or US territories. Since the successful recovery of cultural collections is based on collaboration among many different types of professionals, the goal of the HEART for Native Communities program is to bring together a group with a variety of experiences working with Indigenous cultures.

We seek cultural heritage professionals who:

• work with Native cultural material and would like to create or improve the disaster plan for that collection;
• have resources and support from home institutions for training in disaster planning/cultural heritage preservation;
• might have previously faced an emergency situation that called for an immediate response to safeguard cultural heritage; and/or