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
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.
Congratulations to Our Graduates!
We salute all of our graduates who are embarking on new chapters in their lives with a college degree. Len Necefer, a College Fund alumnus, is just one of many recent graduates. The new Dr. Necefer successfully defended his dissertation, is an expert on energy policy, and now has a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Engineering and Public Policy.
College Fund Honored in NYC for Native Cultural Festival
Drums Along the Hudson, a New York non-profit organization that sponsors an annual music and multi-cultural festival in celebrating American Indian contributions to the environment and culture, has named the American Indian College Fund as one of its 2016 honorees.
Early Childhood Expert Honored by Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Alumni Council
Congratulations to the American Indian College Fund’s Tarajean Yazzie-Mintz, the 2016 recipient of Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Alumni Council Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education.
College Fund Receives Grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to Increase Native Graduation
The American Indian College Fund will create pathways to college for Native American youth to improve access to college, thanks to a $2.4 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The three-year, three-pronged program, called The Native Pathways to College Project, will begin June 1st of this year.
Tribe’s First Master’s Degree Recipient, Historian, and War Chief Dies at Age 102
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Joseph Medicine Crow shows a drum to President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama during a reception for recipients and their families in the Blue Room of the White House, August 12, 2009. (Official White House photo by Pete Souza)
Pendleton Releases New College Fund Blanket
Pendleton Woolen Mills has released the newest blanket in its American Indian College Fund blanket line, the Naskan Saddle Blanket, from which a portion of the proceeds benefit the College Fund.
Little Big Horn College President Honored at Annual Student Celebration
Dr. David Yarlott, President of Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, Mont., honored by American Indian College Fund with College Fund President Cheryl Crazy Bull. Dr. Yarlott received the 2016 American Indian College Fund Tribal College Honoree of the Year award for his leadership.
The College Fund Launches New Community-Based Two-Year ECE Program at Five Tribal Colleges
The American Indian College Fund, in collaboration with five tribal colleges and universities and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, has launched a new early childhood education initiative that includes the child development knowledge from within Native American communities and the best practices of the early childhood education field.
The Coca-Cola Foundation and College Fund Honor First-Generation Native Scholars
The Coca Cola Foundation and the American Indian College Fund honored 36 American Indian scholarship recipients at its 2015-16 Coca-Cola First Generation Scholarship banquet at the American Indian Higher Education Consortium Student Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
