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
Experiencing Math through Art: Weaving Connections with a Lac Courte Oreilles Elder
The day started like a day at most professional development workshops. We made copies of handouts, placed pencils within reach for participants, and tried to predict the participant turnout.
A Conference That Ignites Connections
A team of in service and pre-service teachers from Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College attended the Minnesota Association for the Education of Young Children (MnAEYC) and Minnesota School Age Care alliance (MnSACA) Annual State Conference.
SIPI Preservice Teachers Learn STEM Habits through Culturally Relevant Design Projects
Preparing to become a teacher to Native children is a dream that is becoming a reality for four Early Childhood Education (ECE) student interns at Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI).
Threading the Needle from Theorist to STEM
Early Childhood theorists have influenced educators’ practice in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for many years. Through the Gimaadaadizimin (We All Start A Journey) Project, supported by the American Indian College Fund’s For the Wisdom of the Children: Strengthening the Teacher of Color Pipeline, the Early Childhood Education Department at Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College (KBOCC) have strengthened and expanded our future teachers’ knowledge in STEM.
