At the heart of Iḷisaġvik College’s Restorative Teachings project is the desire to nurture and support meaningful connections between early childhood students, their families, and the community as a whole. It is through these connections that knowledge of language and culture, love, respect, and compassion are passed from one generation to the next.
The Achieving the Dream (ATD) program helps networking colleges to improve student success by providing a menu of services to its colleges, including technical assistance, leadership, data coaching, and more. In addition, ATD hosts an annual DREAM conference where more than 2,000 leaders from 200 community colleges across the country gather.
As a staff member with the College Fund, I had the honor to attend the spring Scholarship Awards Night at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) to witness 260 students moving one step closer towards their educational goals. The event awarded 534 College Fund scholarships to 260 students totaling $519,906.
The fellowship’s goal is to promote environmental sustainability in tribal communities that leads to systemic change. The research component of the fellowship is designed to create research projects that are meaningful and relevant to the students’ tribal communities by improving community environments and the health of tribal people. By educating tribal communities about environmental issues and working together as a community, tribal communities can build and utilize better land and resource management systems.
At Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College (KBOCC) traditional Ojibwe teachings which portray the family as a part of the framework that honors the individual and the collective groups to which the individual belongs. Throughout the year, Migiziinsag (Little Eagles), an early childhood program for four-year-old children, engages by incorporating aspects of indigenous early learning, Anishinaabe language, cultural ceremonies, nutrition and physical activities. The “Family Fun Event Planning Framework” embraces four areas:
A new guide for educators titled Teacher Education Across Minority-Serving Institutions: Programs, Policies, and Social Justice, edited by Emery Petchauuer and Lynnette Mawhinney (Rutgers University Press, 2017) shares successful teaching practices and teacher education programs from minority-serving institutions (MSIs) across the country.
A higher education is a tool for a better life. But for education to also be a portal for social change in Native communities, a one-size-fits-all approach is not sufficient. A new guide for educators titled Teacher Education Across Minority-Serving Institutions: Programs, Policies, and Social Justice, edited by Emery Petchauuer and Lynnette Mawhinney (Rutgers University Press, 2017) shares successful teaching practices and teacher education programs from minority-serving institutions (MSIs) across the country.
Are tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) the result of de facto segregation? Currently in higher education there is considerable discussion about the value and challenges faced by our Nation’s historically black college and universities (HBCUs). While this debate rightly belongs squarely in all discussions about access and affordability and value of higher education, it neglects the experiences of American Indian and Alaska Native students and the colleges and universities that have emerged to serve them in a similar fashion.
We at the American Indian College Fund stand with people concerned about the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline in a peaceful way, based on our Native values of caring for the environment and each other. Our values are as relevant today as they were generations ago, based on the importance of the physical health of our citizens and the economic health of our nation. These are the values we incorporate in the education of our tribal college students.
Author’s Note: This throwback tale is a testament of how things have changed and how they have stayed the same. Reminiscing reminds me to find humor every day. College life as a mom of twins doesn’t slow down, in fact it’s much like a tornado. So even when the twins, now in their terrible twos, hit hard, I am the foundation that this home is built on. Memories such as the story that follows provide reassurance.
