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
Gardening Event Embraces Restorative Teachings
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute’s (SIPI) Restorative Teachings team gathered for our annual “Community Planting Event.” Every April for the past couple of years SIPI’s preschool children have planted corn, melons, and chile peppers. This event involves children, families, and staff members of both SIPI and the Youth Development Incorporated (YDI) Head Start.
Northwest Indian College Restorative Teachings ECE Initiative, May 2016
Spring is in full bloom here at the Northwest Indian College (NWIC) Early Leaning Center, and the College Fund’s Restorative Teachings Early Childhood Education (ECE) Initiative is beginning to take shape. We are fortunate to live in a part of the country where the seasonal changes are so dramatic and each transition brings such a feeling of change to our surroundings.
SIPI Launches Restorative Teachings Initiative
The Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute’s (SIPI) Early Childhood program, together with the Youth Development Incorporated (YDI) happily launched their Restorative Teachings initiative on April 26, 2016. SIPI’s initiative seeks to develop a campus wide community that is inclusive of SIPI staff, faculty, students and the YDI Head Start. The collaborative initiative will focus on providing educational opportunities that support knowledge in the areas of health/ wellness and economic security.
College Fund Research Intern Presents at National Family and Community Engagement Conference
My name is Cassandra Harden. I am a graduated from Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) with an associate’s degree in early childhood education who is currently working as a Tribal College and University (TCU) research intern for the College Fund.
