APPLICATION DEADLINE IS MAY 31st – APPLY NOW!
Wi’áaşal (Great Oak) Future Leaders Scholarship Fund
for Most Enrolled California Tribal Members
Established in 2019, The Wi’áaşal (Great Oak) Future Leaders Scholarship Fund was born out of the longstanding traditions, values, and vision of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians – who have demonstrated their commitment to education and economic development, time and time again. Today, their impact is expanded through the Wi’áaşal (Great Oak) Future Leaders Scholarship, which provides greatly needed support to Native students across the state of California.
The Wi’áaşal (Great Oak) Future Leaders Scholarship Fund is open to most enrolled California tribal members.
Up to $20,000 is available each year to students seeking vocational, associates or bachelors degrees at any accredited, nonprofit college, university or vocational program.
Eligibility:
- Enrolled in a certificate, associate or bachelor’s degree program at an accredited, non-profit college or university
- Full-time enrollment
- Registered as an enrolled member of an eligible California tribe (listed below)
Eligible California Tribes:
- Alturas Indian Rancheria
- Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria
- Big Lagoon Rancheria
- Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens Valley (previously listed as the Big Pine Band of Owens Valley Paiute
- Shoshone Indians of the Big Pine Reservation)
- Big Sandy Rancheria of Western Mono Indians of
- California (previously listed as the Big Sandy Rancheria of
- Mono Indians of California)
- Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians of the Big Valley
- Rancheria
- Bishop Paiute Tribe (previously listed as the Paiute-
- Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony)
- Bridgeport Indian Colony (previously listed as the
- Bridgeport Paiute Indian Colony of California)
- Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California
- Cahto Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria
- Cahuilla Band of Indians (previously listed as the Cahuilla
- Band of Mission Indians of the Cahuilla Reservation)
- California Valley Miwok Tribe
- Cedarville Rancheria
- Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the Chemehuevi Reservation
- Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria
- Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California
- Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
- Cold Springs Rancheria of Mono Indians of California
- Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River Indian Reservation, Arizona and California
- Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California
- Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the Sulphur Bank Rancheria
- Elk Valley Rancheria
- Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California
- Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians
- Fort Bidwell Indian Community of the Fort Bidwell Reservation of California
- Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians of the Fort Independence Reservation
- Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of Arizona, California & Nevada
- Greenville Rancheria (previously listed as the Greenville
- Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California)
- Grindstone Indian Rancheria of Wintun-Wailaki Indians of California
Guidiville Rancheria of California - Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake
- Hoopa Valley Tribe
- Hopland Band of Pomo Indians (formerly Hopland Band of Pomo Indians of the Hopland Rancheria)
- Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel (previously listed as the Santa Ysabel Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Santa Ysabel Reservation)
- Inaja Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Inaja and Cosmit Reservation
- Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California Karuk Tribe (previously listed as the Karuk Tribe of California)
- Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria
- Kletsel Dehe Band of Wintun Indians (previously listed as the Cortina Indian Rancheria and the Cortina Indian Rancheria of Wintun Indians of California)
- Koi Nation of Northern California (previously listed as the Lower Lake Rancheria)
- La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians (previously listed as the La Jolla Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of theLa Jolla Reservation)
- La Posta Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the La Posta Indian Reservation
- Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe (previously listed as the Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Lone Pine Community of the Lone Pine Reservation)
- Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians (previously listed as the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla & Cupeno Indians of the Los Coyotes Reservation)
- Lytton Rancheria of California
- Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester Rancheria (previously listed as the Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester-Point Arena Rancheria)
- Manzanita Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Manzanita Reservation
- Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria
- Mesa Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Mesa Grande Reservation
- Northfork Rancheria of Mono Indians of California
- Pinoleville Pomo Nation (previously listed as the Pinoleville Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California)
- Pit River Tribe (includes XL Ranch, Big Bend, Likely, Lookout, Montgomery Creek and Roaring Creek Rancherias)
- Potter Valley Tribe
- Quartz Valley Indian Community of the Quartz Valley Reservation of California
- Ramona Band of Cahuilla (previously listed as the Ramona Band or Village of Cahuilla Mission Indians of California)
- Redwood Valley or Little River Band of Pomo Indians of the Redwood Valley Rancheria California (previously listed as the Redwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California)
- Resighini Rancheria
- Robinson Rancheria (previously listed as the Robinson Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, California and theRobinson Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California)
- Round Valley Indian Tribes, Round Valley Reservation (previously listed as the Round Valley Indian Tribes of the Round Valley Reservation)
- Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians (previously listed as the Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of the Santa Rosa Reservation)
- Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California
- Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
- Susanville Indian Rancheria
- Tejon Indian Tribe
- Timbisha Shoshone Tribe (previously listed as the Death Valley Timbi-sha Shoshone Tribe and the Death Valley Timbi-Sha Shoshone Band of California)
- Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation (previously listed as the Smith River Rancheria)
- Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians (previously listed as the Torres-Martinez Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of California)
- Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe of the Benton Paiute Reservation
- Washoe Tribe of Nevada & California (Carson Colony, Dresslerville Colony, Woodfords Community, Stewart Community, & Washoe Ranches)
- Wilton Rancheria
- Wiyot Tribe (previously listed as the Table Bluff Reservation—Wiyot Tribe)
- Yurok Tribe of the Yurok Reservation
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From The Chippewa Cree Perspective
Miwahsin Kiksepahyahw Niwahkomahkahnahk! Good morning relatives and friends, it is a breezy afternoon here on the Stone Child College campus on Rocky Boy’s Reservation in north-central Montana. With this blog we’re providing a perspective on life as a Native American person navigating the world of higher education, traditional teachings, and Native life in the modern era; specifically, from the perspective of a member of the Chippewa Cree (Neiyahw/Nacowino) Tribe.
We are the only American division of the Cree Nation, which extends across the majority of Canada with an arm of the Ojibwe from Red Lake, Minnesota. Our two tribes came together resulting from ever encroaching westward expansion during the late 19th century. The bands of Chief Little Bear (Imasees) and Chief Rocky Boy (Ahsiniwiin) came together to make a modern living on the remnant lands surrounding Fort Assiniboine. Since then, we have created a culture all our own, following traditions of both tribes as best we can to usher our people into contemporary American society while maintaining our cultural identity.
The Chippewa Cree Tribal Business Committee chartered Stone Child College in 1984 to aid in the preservation and maintenance of our culture and language and provide educational training for our people. Since then, we have continued to offer post-secondary educational opportunities that promote pride in our Chippewa Cree heritage. Most recently, the American Indian College Fund awarded us funding to revitalize existing Native American Art with an emphasis on Chippewa Cree art in a certificate program. As a part of that project, we conduct interviews with local artists from Rocky Boy to get to know their crafts by way of their own stories.
Stone Child College’s very own art instructor, Mr. John Murie, world-famous for his skill in beadwork, was our first interview. John is an enrolled member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe who was raised on the reservation and learned his craft through teachings passed down in his family. His grandmother, Mary Lodgepole, and his aunt, Cynthia Murie, were prominent mentors in his early years. They taught him traditional sewing techniques that produce high-quality stitches and comfortable fits for moccasins. Since boyhood, they also taught him how to look to nature for inspiration; how to observe the colors of the different seasons, the features of the earth, and the hues of sky to mix colors that appeal to the eye.
John’s use of color schemes, patterns, and symbols all come from that ancestral knowledge passed to him by his mentors, as well as the teachings and stories that accompany each design. He became a grass dancer in his early years. As he grew older, everything that he learned from his family inspired him to start to make his own regalia, and he continued to progress in his beadwork. Learning early that high-quality artwork comes from high-quality product, he followed the tradition of using the choicest brain-tanned, deer hides, provided by his uncle, when making his moccasins. He typically uses size 11 or 13 beads, as his grandmother would, to ensure his designs have the best detail.
His creations represent his views of the world, of nature, and the Native American experience in general, because we as Native peoples have a similar worldview and philosophy towards life. John believes, as do we all here at Stone Child College, that it is of the utmost importance that stories of our history, culture, and art forms, are narrated by us and not by outsiders. Telling our own story, with respect to each Tribe’s traditions and culture, is the future of Native art and education here at Stone Child College and in Indian Country as a whole, from our perspective, from the Chippewa Cree perspective.
Video of John Highlighting His Work
Waabaabigan, Working with Our Namesake
By Ian Anderson, Cultural Coordinator at White Earth Tribal and Community College
Boozhoo akina awiya (Hello everyone)! Our featured artists this month are Janet and Eliza Klarer! Janet and Eliza are White Earth Ojibwe artists who work with a wide array of art mediums. They are a mother-daughter duo who teach Woodland-style pottery and other traditional art forms throughout the region. Janet learned how to make traditional pottery from her mother, Judy Toppings. Her mother worked throughout her life to help revitalize traditional White Earth clay lifeways, from traditional gathering practices all the way to finished pottery. Judy taught these ways to many people throughout our community and passed it along to her daughter and granddaughters. It was important to her to help make working with White Earth clay accessible to everyone, and to help our community build a good relationship with the land here. This is especially important because White Earth clay is the namesake of our reservation, Gaa-waabaabiganikaag, meaning, “Place where there is an abundance of White Clay.”
This summer at the White Earth Tribal and Community College, Janet and Eliza hosted a four-day workshop on how to work with clay. Over these four days, they taught how to gather, process, mold, and fire clay pottery using traditional methods. This helped to de-mystify the process and make it more accessible to our community, so that others can help to carry this knowledge forward. When asked about her perspective about this work, Eliza had this to say:
“I am excited to share my clay work with my community, I hope that by having my work in our local gallery, I may inspire others on the reservation to shoot for the stars and that anything is possible through the power of community.
I feel it is impossible to share my story without including my grandmother Judy Toppings, as she was the driving force that inspired my artistic abilities. It was through my grandmother that I started exploring the art of sculpting with clay, among other media such as birchbark, sewing, and beadwork. She was a teacher and multifaceted artist, and my mother, my sister, and I were her assistants for some of her clay classes with the community. During these classes, I started playing with sculpting little animals, who did not come out of the fire in one piece. I am proud to say that 15 years later, I made two tiny raccoons with clay. Although fired with modern kilns, they survived and looked adorable, which led me to create more raccoons with my hand-processed clay from our White Earth Reservation and firing them successfully in the primitive fire pit.
With my grandmother as an example, I hope that I may continue her work in sharing traditional woodland pottery techniques, and their significance in human history, with anyone who wishes to learn. I am thankful to my mother for her support of my path to becoming an artist and for being her partner in teaching others about this ancient art form. In teaching how to work with clay, we help people learn about themselves, as it can be therapeutic to some and a sensory overload to others. By doing this work we reveal the clay artists of the next generation, and I think that is worth something.”
Jonathan Breaker, TCU Student Success Program Officer, Earns Strategic Enrollment Management Endorsement
Jonathan Breaker, TCU Student Success Program Officer, Earns Strategic Enrollment Management Endorsement
Congratulations to Jonathan Breaker (Blackfoot/Cree from the Siksika Nation in southern Alberta, Canada) for being one of an elite group of 83 individuals internationally who has earned his Strategic Enrollment Endorsement (SEM) from the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers (AACRAO). Breaker is also the first person from New Mexico to earn this endorsement, which signifies he has developed strategic enrollment management skills to meet the current and future challenges in the industry.
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: 12/17/24
Contact: Dr. Christopher Tremblay (sem-ep@aacrao.org)
ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL EARNS ENDORSEMENT AND DIGITAL BADGE
WASHINGTON, DC—Jonathan Breaker, Tribal Colleges and Universities Student Success Program Officer at the American Indian College Fund, has earned the Strategic Enrollment Management Endorsement from the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers (AACRAO).
Breaker is among an elite group of only 83 individuals internationally and is the first person from the state of New Mexico to earn this endorsement. Breaker is receiving the SEM Endorsement Badge through Credly and his name will soon appear in the national registry.
This endorsement signifies that Breaker has developed skills in the field of strategic enrollment management to meet the current and future challenges in the industry. Proficiencies in a variety of aspects of enrollment management have been achieved.
Jonathan Breaker, Tribal Colleges and Universities Student Success Program Officer at the American Indian College Fund
About the Graduate
Breaker is Blackfoot/Cree from Siksika Nation in southern Alberta, Canada. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Calgary and completed his Master of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University in Ottawa.
Breaker has a background working at and with Tribal Colleges and Universities. He served the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) for eight years in recruitment, admissions, and dual credit programming as Assistant Director of Admissions, later managing community and adult education and non-credit programming as Continuing Education Manager.
Before this, he worked for a decade in the public service in the Government of Canada, advising on Indigenous issues and programs, cultural policy, international relations, and Indigenous treaty rights and consultation. Breaker has worked extensively with tribal nations in Canada and the United States and has presented at Indigenous education conferences in and outside Indian Country.
About the Endorsement
AACRAO’s Strategic Enrollment Management Endorsement Program provides a well-defined, self-paced professional development program and career advancement track for in-service enrollment service professionals.
The endorsement is a unique credential in the field and provides assurance of a strong foundation and understanding of enrollment management functions in a higher education setting. This endorsement is an international acknowledgment of enrollment management professionalism.
About the Program
Through a series of educational experiences with defined learning outcomes, SEM-EP is an accepted structure that underscores a set of uniform activities guided by association and industry best practices and resources. Admission to the program is competitive.
About AACRAO
Founded in 1910, AACRAO is a nonprofit, voluntary, professional association of 15,500 higher-education professionals who represent roughly 2,300 institutions in more than 40 countries.
AACRAO represents institutions in every part of the higher education community, from large public institutions to small, private liberal arts colleges. Its mission is to provide professional development, guidelines, and voluntary standards for higher-education officials regarding best practices in records management, admissions, enrollment management, administrative information technology, and student services.
Research, guidance, and best practices are shared with members and other higher-education stakeholders through training, publications, journals, and consulting services.
