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Meet Julia Jones, Eclipse Star and American Indian College Fund Supporter

Julia Jones (Mississippi Choctaw), a professional actress, appears in Eclipse, the third installment film of the wildly successful Twilight series. Jones plays the part of the only female werewolf in this modern-day gothic series combining supernatural creatures and impossible love. Julia is a supporter of the American Indian College Fund, and took time out of her hectic acting and promotion schedule to meet with the Fund in Los Angeles to share why she is passionate about supporting and promoting American Indian education.

American Indian College Fund Earns Charity Navigator’s Four-Star Rating

Charity Navigator, the nation’s top charity evaluation system, has awarded the Denver-based American Indian College Fund (the Fund) a coveted four-star rating for sound fiscal management. The Fund has raised money for scholarships for American Indian college students from across the nation for 21 years, while also supporting the nation’s 33 tribal colleges and universities.

General Mills Foundation Donates $60,000 to American Indian College Fund

The American Indian College Fund (the Fund) has received a generous donation from the General Mills Foundation to continue their support of higher education for Native students. The $60,000 grant will continue the General Mills Foundation Tribal College Scholarship Program and will provide scholarships to students attending tribal colleges in Minnesota and New Mexico.

Arriving at the College of Menominee Nation

Arriving at the College of Menominee Nation

We arrived in Wisconsin on this fifth and penultimate leg of our trip to an unseasonably hot and humid climate of Green Bay, then to the thicket of the Menominee Nation. Making our way through the forest, we arrived at the College of Menominee Nation (CMN) in Keshena to meet our our subjects for this project. They were gathered on the steamy afternoon planting their sustainable, permaculture garden under the blue water tower on campus at the entrance to the Menominee Nation Reservation.

Northwest Indian College – Day 2

After an amazing visit in Tulalip, Phillip and I continued north to Lummi where we had the great fortune of taking part in honoring the return of the salmon. During the annual First Salmon Ceremony, the Lummi people celebrate the return of the salmon to the region’s rivers. There were hundreds of tribal members and visitors gathered to take part the honoring. The treat of fresh-caught salmon was a delicious detour on our visit to the Northwest Indian College main campus.

Northwest Indian College Visit

This week the tribal college tour continued to Northwest Indian College. We recruited former College Fund Media Manager Phillip Hillaire (Lummi) to serve as a liaison to his Native community. Of the tribal colleges, Northwest Indian College (NWIC) is very well known for pioneering distance learning programs.

Coaching and Investing in Our Students’ Futures

Most of us who have achieved a measure of success in our lives had someone special who believed in us—a family member, teacher, coach, or other caring individual who provided encouragement at a critical time. I was raised by my grandmother from the time I was five months old. We were very poor, often living on less than $50 per month. At times we went without real food for weeks, subsisting solely on coffee and homemade bread.