Recently, I’ve been reflecting on how important it is to be able to identify myself using terms that are personal to me; and the impact that has for all of us in the way we feel self-confidence and pride in our individuality. Perhaps you define yourself by the job you do or the language you speak. Or maybe you identify yourself by your skin color, sexual orientation, or what part of the world you grew up in.
Native American Heritage Month is a special time of the year for us when we celebrate our history and heritage with our friends and neighbors. We are able to celebrate the wonderful things that make being Native unique, and it also gives us time to reflect on many of those aspects that bind us together as humans.
The #CollegeBoundNative Campaign encourages high school seniors to apply for college. Native Americans are the least likely of any group to go to college. But college is essential to many careers, which require a certificate, associate or bachelor’s degree. The American Indian College Fund is setting out to change that statistic—and the future of Native students—through a campaign to get more Native high school seniors to apply for college.
Thirty-four accredited tribal colleges and universities provide higher education opportunities to American Indian communities nationwide. Now, thanks to a $450,000 three-year grant from The Kresge Foundation, the American Indian College Fund will conduct a study on student success at three tribal colleges (TCUs). These best practices will then be scaled up and replicated at TCUs and other educational institutions working with Native students.
Home ownership, like education, are considered to be both an investment and part of the American dream. But these paths to a strong future have not always been accessible to American Indian people. Home ownership has been problematic because not all lenders could or can provide loans for people living on reservations or federal trust lands.
Groundwater contamination, erosion, lack of access to healthy foods, and poor air quality are just some of the environmental concerns facing American Indian communities across the United States. Yet indigenous people have long held specialized knowledge that can lead to unique solutions to these challenges.
Three Native college students attending Leech Lake Tribal College (LLTC) in Cass Lake, Minnesota traveled to Durango, Colorado to visit the Fort Lewis College campus, a private four-year college that offers a tuition-waiver program to American Indian students.
Only 1% of college students are Native American. The American Indian College Fund is helping to change that with its Native Pathways to College: Bridge Program, which will work with an estimated 300 high school students to increase their preparation for college.
The American Indian College Fund honored 34 American Indian tribal college students of the year, tribal college president Dr. Laurel Vermillion, and U.S. Department of Education employee John Gritts on March 19 at the 2017 Student of the Year and Coca Cola Award Banquet in Rapid City, South Dakota in conjunction with the American Indian Higher Education Consortium Spring Student Conference.
The College Fund named Dr. Laurel Vermillion, President of Sitting Bull College in Fort Yates, North Dakota and a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, the 2017 American Indian College Fund TCU Honoree of the Year. This honor recognizes a distinguished individual who has made a positive and lasting impact on the tribal college movement.
