Less than 0.5% of authors in the United States today are Native American, and Native Americans face unique challenges in sharing their stories and perspectives. This program provides support, co-author/illustrator matching, and pathways to publishing for Native American authors, with a special emphasis on the stories of Conestoga-Susquehannock and other Iroquoian peoples, which are particularly under-represented within published writing.

Though the Conestoga language survives today only as a small vocabulary of roughly 100 words, the Mingo language, which was spoken regularly at Conestoga Town, has been largely preserved into modern times. In 1757, Conestoga Town resident Tāyāhaōndeate documented one of the earliest Mingo dictionaries. The Akwênö' project honors his legacy by creating dynamic opportunities—including speech contests, lessons, and a developing Mingo language live chat tool—for anyone to study, speak, and help propagate our language.

Telling the story of our people, who have survived despite the dominant narrative of our extinction, kakææ'shö'ö serves to record the history of the Conestoga-Susquehannock people. Through interviews of tribal members, annual tribal surveys, historical research and document retrieval, kakææ'shö'ö connects the lived experiences of modern tribal members with historical data, affirming cultural ties, sharing traditional knowledge, and refuting the narrative that our people are extinct.