Ihduwiyayapi: Advancing Indigenous
Early Childhood Education
2021 – 2029
About The Program
The American Indian College Fund (College Fund) has supported programming in Indigenous Early Childhood Education (IECE) since 2011. The Ihduwiyayapi Advancing Indigenous Early Childhood Education program centers on building Indigenous strengths-based systems of care and learning in Native communities, the College Fund is guided by five domains that are critical to IECE across tribal communities. These domains are:
The Ihduwiyayapi: Advancing Indigenous Early Childhood Education program at the College Fund supports engagement with tribal college and university (TCU) partners to build the capacity of their early childhood education degree programs and improve teacher education.
The term Ihduwiyayapi can be translated from Dakota to “they are getting ready.” Its meaning conveys that those involved in the programming are preparing themselves and their programs for what will come next, they are preparing a foundation for the advancement and future of Indigenous Early Childhood Education.
This program encourages TCU grantees to participate in and support the following six-part program components:
2024 Ihduwiyayapi: Advancing Indigenous Early Childhood Education Program Convening in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Ihduwiyayapi
They are getting ready.
Grantees 2025-2027
Nebraska Indian Community College
Navajo Technical University
Community of Practice Grantees 2025-2026
Diné College
Fort Peck Community College
Grantees 2024-2027
Aaniiih Nakoda College (Ft. Belknap)
Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University
Little Priest Tribal College
Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College
Nebraska Indian Community College
Sitting Bull College
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
Tohono O'odham Community College
Grantee 2023-2025
College of Menominee Nation
Grantees 2023-2024
Aaniiih Nakoda College (Ft. Belknap)
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College
Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University
Little Priest Tribal College
Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College
Sitting Bull College
Tohono O'odham Community College
Grantees 2022-2023
College of Menominee Nation
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University
Navajo Technical University
Stone Child College
Sitting Bull College
Ihduwiyayapi 2021-2022 Pilot Program
The Ihduwiyayapi: Advancing Indigenous Early Childhood Education program partners with tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) to build the capacity of their early childhood education programs and improve teacher education through family and community outreach, enhanced child developmental pedagogy, pathways development, enhanced capacity, and engagement in national conversations about ECE best practices and lessons learned.
The program piloted in 2021 through $600,000 and $350,000 grants from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Heising-Simons Foundation, respectively. The Bezos Family Foundation has since committed a $5.3 million grant over four years of a broader $11.3 million program plan.
Grantees 2021-2022
Pilot Cohort
Blackfeet Community College
College of Menominee Nation
Diné College
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University
Little Priest Tribal College
Navajo Technical University
Northwest Indian College
Sitting Bull College
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
Stone Child College
Related Blogs
Restorative Teachings: Embracing our Frameworks to Change the World
As we do more, we have to train others to take on more. These were the opening words of Tarajean Yazzie-Mintz, Vice President of Program Initiatives and Director of Early Childhood Education Initiatives at the American Indian College Fund’s 2017 Restorative Teachings Early Childhood Education convene in Denver, Colorado.
SIPI Parents Lead the Way
SIPI has worked hard to make sure its Restorative Teachings Initiative is grounded in community needs and parent voices. Parents were empowered through the initiative to ensure that the program is culturally responsive and meets their children’s needs. They have led the way in defining priority areas for learning since the American Indian College Fund’s Restorative Teachings Initiative was awarded to SIPI in 2016.
Teachers Learn Techniques to Bolster Resiliency, Foster Classroom Connections
Native youth often face disproportionate challenges in their young lives. Early childhood teachers can help these young learners increase their resiliency while they face adverse circumstances by supporting factors that protect and strengthen young children, according to Ray Soriano, a keynote speaker at the 33rd Annual FOCUS on Children Conference at Bellingham Technical College.
It’s More Than Just Telling a Story!
Through storytelling, the Menominee are keeping their tribal language alive. Storytelling is both an art and a necessary method for educating our young early childhood children in the Menominee community. The Menominee have used oral stories to pass down traditions to future generations, such as their local customs, how to live off the forest land, and how to survive in the natural environment in which they live
