Honoring Those Who Hold Us: An Elder Story Series
The American Indian College Fund would like to introduce Honoring Those Who Hold Us: An Elder Story Series.
The series will highlight Indigenous voices through moments and memories shared by TCU students, faculty/staff, and leadership about the elders who have held and continue to hold them through the many stages of life, particularly in their education journeys.
Through the storytelling series, the College Fund will bring visibility to the family and community relationships that shape and impact the tribal college and university experience and the lives of community members in tribal nations.
The College Fund is inviting TCU students, faculty/staff, leadership, and community elders to share their stories.
Introducing the Series
Creating Stories
Story forms and submissions may include:
- Written story or blog
- Interview
- Poetry
- Video
- Song (audio file or video file)
- Dance (video file)
- Spoken story (audio or video file)
- Illustration (a clear photo of the illustration [sketch, painting, print], with accompanying 1-2 paragraph description
- Art piece (a clear photo of the art piece [beadwork, quillwork, pottery, basketry, weaving, etc.], with accompanying 1-2 paragraph description
- Photography, with accompanying 1-2 paragraph description
Submission
Deadline: Open through May 2023
Include the following in your submission email:
-
- Storyteller’s name, tribal affiliation, and contact information
- If the storyteller is a student, we ask that you include your TCU and major
- Attached story file (Word file for written story forms – not PDF –, JPEG file for photos, MP4 file for videos, MP3 file for audio)
- Signed College Fund Media Release for all individuals visible in photos or film (attached)
- Storyteller’s name, tribal affiliation, and contact information
Need help telling your story? We’d love to help.
If you are interested in submitting a story, but do not have access to technology that will accommodate your desired story form, we can help. Get support gathering and submitting the story by video, audio, or text.
Other Featured Stories
Student Story
“I started my journey to fulfill my grandparents’ wishes of seeing me graduate. Unfortunately, they both passed on, but I never gave up on the promise that I made to them. Even though I didn’t get a diploma and walk at my own graduation, it still made me happy knowing I successfully got my GED and am now currently in college classes. They would be proud.”
“I AM”
by Brandon Isham (Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe)
I am Resilient & Human.
I wonder sometimes about putting myself into others’ shoes.
I hear a ringing sound in my ears.
I see a night full of lightning and rain.
I want happiness.
I am Resilient & Human.
I pretend everything will be okay.
I feel my thoughts overwhelming me.
I touch the water and watch the ripples move.
I worry about failing.
I cry about the ones I’ve lost.
I am Resilient & Human.
I understand not all things will go my way.
I say it could always be worse.
I dream of better days.
I try to please as many people as I can.
I hope I didn’t disappoint nobody.
I am Resilient & Human.
More About the Elder Story Series
The American Indian College Fund is hosting a storytelling series focused on the ways in which our grandparents and elders have shown up and supported countless education journeys throughout Indian Country and how our elders are often the motivators and sources of support for us to pursue our educational pathways.
Through these stories, we will highlight moments and memories shared by TCU students, faculty/staff, and leadership about grandparents and elders in their lives that changed their educational journeys and personal aspirations. Elders may also submit stories on how they have supported the students in their lives as we explore the importance of intergenerational relationships in Indigenous education. The stories will be published on the College Fund’s website.
With this series the College Fund wants to acknowledge that the ways in which our Indigenous communities refer to our grandparents, elders, and knowledge carriers differ greatly. Our languages reflect not only kinship but sometimes the knowledge our relatives hold and how they carry that knowledge. Please share how you are comfortable using these understandings and terms and how these relatives have contributed to your education pathways.
All TCU students, faculty/staff, leadership, and tribal nations community elders are invited to submit their stories for this series.