Deadline TONIGHT for Park Service tribal heritage preservation grants

Alaska tribes, Native villages and corporations have until 7:59 p.m. tonight to apply for federal grants that pay for preserving what's hardest to replace — oral histories, traditional cultural practices and sacred places.

The National Park Service's Tribal Heritage Grants Program has about $900,000 to award this cycle, and the grants require no nonfederal match — often the barrier that keeps small communities out of federal funding.

Federally recognized tribes, Alaska Native villages or corporations, and Native Hawaiian organizations are eligible. The program funds the cultural resources communities are most concerned with protecting: oral-history work, traditional practices, plant and animal species important in tradition, sacred and historic places, and the establishment of tribal historic preservation offices.

Since 1990, the program has awarded more than $17 million to more than 460 Indian and Alaska Native communities.

Applications go through Grants.gov, where the full requirements are posted.