Thanks to your assistance to the American Indian College Fund’s Flood Emergency Fund, our tribal college communities impacted by rising waters along the Missouri River and its tributaries can cope better. Sioux City, Nebraska, home to Nebraska Indian College, is the latest tribal college community to deal with the devastation caused by flood waters.
States of emergency have been declared for the state of Montana and 21 counties in North Dakota and two Indian reservations, including Barnes, Benson, Burleigh, Cass, Emmons, Eddy, Grand Forks, Mercer, McLean, Morton, Nelson, Oliver, Pembina, Ramsey, Ransom, Richland, Sioux, Towner, Traill, Walsh and Ward Counties and the reservations of the Spirit Lake Nation and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
Hundreds of American Indians have been displaced from their homes across Montana and North Dakota. Little Big Horn College in Eastern Montana, which serves the Crow Nation, and United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, North Dakota are serving their hard-hit communities as the command centers for the disaster, providing shelter, food, and clothing to those in need.
On April 28th, many of the Fund’s long time donors, the Fund’s board of trustees, a contingent of Wieden + Kennedy employees, and prominent figures from Portland’s Native community came together to show David Kennedy their appreciation for his 20 years of rigorous support of the American Indian College Fund.
The Fund served up a feast for Native elders, including roast buffalo, green beans, mashed potatoes, fry bread, and posole. Traditional Native entertainment included Native flute, drumming and singing, and a special appearance by Santa Claus, who distributed goodie bags and hams to the crowd. Drawings were also held for a variety of door prizes.
For 15 years, the American Indian College Fund’s Flame of Hope Gala has been vital to raising money for scholarships and tribal college support. This year the event, held at the Seawell Grand Ballroom at the Denver Center of the Performing Arts in Denver on Thursday, Oct. 14, raised $385,000.
Attending the American Indian College Fund’s Flame of Hope Gala this October 14 in Denver, Colorado at the Seawall Grand Ballroom at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts helps us raise money for student scholarships. But the gala also confers a benefit to attendees. In addition to a gourmet meal and first-class entertainment from Big Head Todd and the Monsters this year, the Flame of Hope Gala presents you with the opportunity to meet several of our tribal college students.
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.
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.
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.
