Native American Heritage Month is a special time of the year for us when we celebrate our history and heritage with our friends and neighbors. We are able to celebrate the wonderful things that make being Native unique, and it also gives us time to reflect on many of those aspects that bind us together as humans.
Recently, I’ve been reflecting on how important it is to be able to identify myself using terms that are personal to me; and the impact that has for all of us in the way we feel self-confidence and pride in our individuality. Perhaps you define yourself by the job you do or the language you speak. Or maybe you identify yourself by your skin color, sexual orientation, or what part of the world you grew up in.
The American Indian College Fund leads the nation in supporting development of culturally relevant early childhood education programs at tribal colleges and universities to secure the health and wellness of young Native learners and their families. Inspired by its work under its Restorative Teachings Early Childhood Education initiative, the College Fund will host the Tribal Indigenous Early Childhood Network (TIECN) Forum on November 15 at the National Association for the Education of Young Children Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
The #CollegeBoundNative Campaign encourages high school seniors to apply for college. Native Americans are the least likely of any group to go to college. But college is essential to many careers, which require a certificate, associate or bachelor’s degree. The American Indian College Fund is setting out to change that statistic—and the future of Native students—through a campaign to get more Native high school seniors to apply for college.
The Indigenous Visionaries initiative builds upon the American Indian College Fund’s previous work for a number of years developing Native women leaders, through education, mentoring, and networking. Indigenous Visionaries focuses on connecting students at tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) with faculty members in their area of study.
Since 2004, the American Indian College Fund has awarded the Mellon Career Enhancement Fellowship to deserving tribal college and university (TCU) faculty who are in the final stages of their doctoral programs to complete the writing process of their dissertations.
Black Hills State University in South Dakota honored Dr. Lionel Bordeaux (Sicangu Lakota), President of Sinte Gleska University and the longest-serving university president in the United States, by naming a residence hall on its campus in his honor. Bordeaux Hall gives university students a view of Crow Peak, Spearfish Mountain, and Lookout Mountain, while providing them with a place to meet, study, and learn.
Tribal elders are an integral part of the Restorative Teachings program, serving as an important link from past to future, and Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College’s program is no different (KBOCC). When the tribal elder who serves as the program’s cultural consultant was interviewed for the position, honesty, integrity, and respect emanated from him as he looked at each of the program’s employees in the eyes and told the stories of the Ojibwe past.
Lakota people believe that the place we go to on our spirit journey is a beautiful place where our ancestors welcome us. The College Fund team lost a beloved colleague earlier this week when Karen Whiting, our Human Resources Manager, died unexpectedly. Karen was a gracious, caring, and professional individual.
Home ownership, like education, are considered to be both an investment and part of the American dream. But these paths to a strong future have not always been accessible to American Indian people. Home ownership has been problematic because not all lenders could or can provide loans for people living on reservations or federal trust lands.
We're looking for a Database Administrator and Analyst to join our Research, Evaluation, and Faculty Development team at the College Fund!
