Funding

HUNAP provides support to Harvard students to conduct research on Native American and Indigenous issues, for professional development activities, and for conference attendance. 

Please note these are supports for research and NOT financial aid scholarships.

Eligibility: 

  • Any Harvard student to conduct research on a topic and/or fieldwork leading to the fulfillment of a course-related research paper, degree requirements, and/or advancement to doctoral candidacy at the intersection of humanitarianism and Native American and Indigenous communities.
  • Students are only eligible for 1 Conference Grant and 1 Research Grant per year.
  • Students are only eligible for 1 1665 Pre-Doctoral Fellowship in their time at Harvard.
  • Research Grants and Pre-Doctoral Fellowships cannot be awarded in the same year.

Application Deadlines (Excluding Conference Attendance Grant): 

  • Spring Semester: January 30th
  • Summer Semester: April 30th
  • Fall Semester: September 30th

 Please email hunap@harvard.edu to request an application. 

Fellowships and Grants

1665 Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck Pre-Doctoral Fellowship

The 1665 Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck Pre-Doctoral Fellowship supports currently enrolled Harvard doctoral students who have been advanced to doctoral candidacy and are entering the dissertation completion stage (core course requirements and qualifying paper proposal must be completed).

HUNAP Student Research Grant

The HUNAP Student Research Grant provides financial assistance to support the direct expenses related to research and/or fieldwork leading to the fulfillment of a course-related research paper, degree requirements, and/or advancement to doctoral candidacy.

HUNAP Conference Attendance Grant

The HUNAP Conference Attendance Grant assists students presenting at national/regional/local conferences on topics relating to Native American and Indigenous peoples. Applications reviewed on a rolling basis. Apply 6 weeks before the conference you plan on attending.

Humanitarianism and Native American & Indigenous Communities

The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) is pleased to announce student support for research related to projects at the intersection of humanitarianism and Native American and Indigenous communities. HHI and HUNAP are collaborating to jointly review applications and select finalists.

Previously Funded Research Projects: Spring 2026

Featured in the Harvard Museum and Harvard Divinity School instagram: 

Meet Luis-Daniel Beauchamp, a second-year Harvard graduate student @harvarddivinity focusing on Caribbean history and the Taíno history of Borikén/Puerto Rico. Drawn to the Peabody Museum by the realization that so many objects from his homeland are here in Cambridge, Luis-Daniel describes his research in three words: tradition, ancestral, and powerful.

One of the most magnificent—yet less known—parts of the collection he wishes everyone knew about are the Taíno stone collars. Carved with incredible skill, these stone rings were worn as "regalia by caciques (chiefs) during important ceremonies,” he says. “They would make a great addition to exhibitions, although they are quite heavy!”

By centering Borikén Taíno objects, his work sheds light on a region of Indigenous history, creating a vital resource for modern descendants seeking to reconnect with their ancestral heritage.

Luis-Daniel portrait by Tony Rinaldo

Luis Daniel Beauchamp Headshot

Historically, museums in North America have paid less attention to objects from South America and the Caribbean, and I think by studying Boriken Taíno objects one can learn so much about a part of the United States that few people think about.