Indigenous Literacy Story Series
The Indigenous Literacy Story Series seeks to shift perceptions of literacy and education in tribal nation communities, provide evidence of literacy success and innovation in tribal nation communities, establish the College Fund as a resource and leader in literacy resources, and encourage innovation and collaboration within TCUs, across TCUs, and between Native inservice teachers.
This story series features guest writers from the College Fund, TCUs, and Native educators in the field.
Indigenous Literacy is:
A means of expressing and sustaining connection, culture, and sovereignty.
The ability to communicate (tell stories, speak, write, create, teach, or demonstrate) and comprehend (listen, read, sense, interpret, view, learn, or practice).
A starting point for Native people to co-create their environment in ways that are grounded in – and sustaining of – Indigenous cultures, languages, and ways of knowing.
Relational and intergenerational, supporting kinship with each other, ancestors, and the land.
Essential to thriving Indigenous communities.
Featured Stories
Leech Lake Tribal College Names Dr. Donald Day as its Next President
Cass Lake, MN-The Board of Trustees of Leech Lake Tribal College has announced that Dr. Donald Day, Director of the American Indian Resource Center at Bemidji State University, has been selected as the next President of the College, effective August 13. He will succeed Dr. Ginny Carney, who is retiring in August after more than a decade of service at LLTC.
Student Blogger Amber: Summer Fishing
My hometown, Unalakleet, is an Inupiaq village located in the Norton Sound region of Alaska. We get a great deal of wind in our area because Unalakleet is located right on the coast: the Bering Sea. The town consists of about 750 people year-round. Most residents are of Inupiat Eskimo descent. The non-Natives that reside in Unalakleet are mostly teachers.
Student Blogger Therese: Summer Pastimes
We all have our favorite activities and pastimes that magnify the summer season. Among the most common are reading novels while swinging in a hammock under a shade tree, watching the sun dance with the branches, sippin’ on an ice- cold- fresh- squeezed big gulp size tumbler of lemonade, jumping out of a tire swing into our favorite swimming hole, and letting our sweat drenched hair form their own string.
Native Students Travel to D.C. for Forum about Minority Health Issues
Last week I accompanied five American Indian College Fund Scholars to the United Health Foundation’s Annual Diverse Scholars Forum in Washington, D.C. These students have been supported by the United Health Foundation with scholarships to pursue degrees ranging from physical therapy and exercise science to nursing and health occupations.
Student Blogger Amber: Alaska Winters and Subsistence Living
I remember the cold winters we had in the past, but this winter most likely beat the record low. Temperatures below zero are very common for Alaskan winters. Our winters typically last from mid-October to the end of May. This year we didn’t get our first snowfall until early November, so we thought maybe “Global Warming” was finally taking its toll. Boy, were we wrong! It wasn’t until January that the cold really hit us. It slapped us in the face!
Meet Therese, Student Blogger from IAIA!
I am Therese. I just completed my first semester at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I am on Create My Canvas Path, majoring in studio arts and museum studies. My Native affiliation is what I refer to as “mixed media”-Native, Mayan, and Mexican.
American Indian College Fund Receives $50,000 Grant from Nissan North America, Inc.
Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) granted $50,000 to the American Indian College Fund to continue the Nissan Corporate Scholars Program. The program has provided scholarships to Native scholars attending tribal colleges and mainstream universities for more than a decade.
Meet Lee, Student Blogger and NASA Student Intern, Kennedy Space Center
My name is Lee. I grew up in Duluth, Minnesota and I’m an enrolled member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. I’m a full student at Leech Lake Tribal College and will be entering my second year of college in the fall. I will be transferring to the University of Kansas to complete a degree in biochemistry.
College Fund Staffer to Discuss Fund’s Early Childhood Education Program on Television
Tarajean Yazzie Mintz, program officer for the American Indian College Fund’s Wakanyeja “sacred little ones” early childhood education initiative, will appear on a television program to discuss early childhood education and how programs that incorporate culture and community enhance student achievement.
Meet Amber, Ilisagvik College Student from Alaska!
Hello all! My name is Amber. My Inupiat name is Kapuqqaq (pronounced “ga-bu-kuk”). I am a tribal member of the Native Village of Unalakleet, located on the Northwest coast of Alaska. The community itself consists of roughly 750 people year-round.
