From Wounded Knee to the civil rights era, American Indians and Alaska Natives are no strangers to either institutional harm or the need to use the system to make their voices heard. On this National Day of Racial Healing, learn from the examples of our elders and ancestors how to stay safe while continually pushing for your rights and self-actualization.
By Joseph M. (Tohono O’odham Nation) As a Native person traveling on my own tribal nation and ancestral lands, I never thought I would be questioned about my citizenship. Our land and our Tribe existed long before borders, checkpoints, or immigration agencies. Yet...
In the past year we have witnessed the erosion of the freedom of speech, profiling of civilians, and the right to peacefully protest. What has happened in Minnesota, including the murder of a protestor and the arrest of four Native Americans, is chilling. Native...
The epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) in the United States that has existed for years continues unabated. And while Native students deal with the same end of semester pressures and holiday stresses as other students, they’re more likely to also be living in a state of fear or mourning for a relative who may never make it home.
The American Indian College Fund (the College Fund) named 12 student ambassadors for 2025-26 to represent its values and mission of providing Native students with access to an affordable, culturally based higher education to revitalize Native communities and cultures.
Starting November 15, the American Indian College Fund and Pendleton Woolen Mills, the international lifestyle brand headquartered in Portland, Oregon, are accepting submissions for sixth annual Tribal College Blanket Design Contest. American Indian and Alaska Native students attending a tribal college or university are eligible to submit up to two designs.
Words and names have power as do the places and peoples that use them. We hope you will join us in celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day, reflecting on the experiences of our nation’s Indigenous Tribes, while working to strengthen ties between us all as relatives. We will continue to use the words of this blog to uplift Native voices, because we’re Indigenous every day.
In Canada, Orange Shirt Day is observed on September 30 as a federal holiday called the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The American Indian College Fund (College Fund) and other National Native Scholarship Providers are working to raise awareness of this important day of observation in solidarity with the survivors of boarding schools across North America.
