The American Indian College Fund honored Native American elders Theresa Halsey of the Lakota Tribe and Isaac Wak Wak of the Colville Confederated Tribes of Washington state at its Seventeenth Annual Denver Elders Dinner at the University of Denver’s Cable Center. Nearly 300 American Indian elders attended the traditional buffalo feast, which honored them for their guidance throughout the year.
Cassandra Harden (Diné) was focused on a career in early childhood education when she first learned about internship opportunities with the American Indian College Fund (College Fund). While she studied as a student at tribal college Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Cassandra got involved in SIPI’s early childhood program, working on the College Fund’s Wakanyeja “Sacred Little Ones” and Ké’ Early Childhood Initiatives, as a student intern.
Robin Maxkii shared some snippets from her internship experience at the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C. In a conversation with her about her internship experience, she shared that her time in Washington was one of her best experiences in learning more about how to think about and act on information given by working professionals and mentors. Although she was appreciative of their advice, she chafed at feedback about her career trajectory and academic pursuit.
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.
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.
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.
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.
When WalletHub announced its rankings of the best community colleges across the nation, many Americans may have been unfamiliar with its first-place choice, Leech Lake Tribal College (LLTC). Tucked away in northern Minnesota on the Leech Lake Ojibwe Indian reservation, LLTC’s recent ranking is part of a long history of success. The college was also voted as seventh in a list of the nation’s 50 best community colleges in 2010 by Washington Monthly.
The American Indian College Fund is saddened to share that Dr. Lynnette Chandler, a 2009-10 Mellon Faculty Fellowship recipient and both the founder and the director of the White Clay Language School at Aaniiih Nakoda College, passed away on August 13th.
