Think Indian Community Awareness Grants
Think Indian Community Awareness Grants of $2,500 are available to student groups and accredited higher education institutions. These grants encourage institutions who serve Native students to promote the positive message of “Think Indian,” the vibrancy of Native students, and the highlight the support provided by Native scholarship programs to their campus and community.
“Think Indian” was originally created as a public awareness campaign to promote the American Indian College Fund, and the many ways that its scholars contribute to, and change our world. Its message connected so deeply with Native students and institutions that it was revived in 2018, specifically to promote the College Fund’s scholarship, and other student programs.
The American Indian College Fund has created a grant program to highlight its “Think Indian” campaign, and scholarships program for Native students. The grants are intended to encourage institutions who serve Native students to promote the positive message of “Think Indian,” the vibrancy of Native students, and the highlight the support provided by Native scholarship programs to their campus and community. Projects must engage or include Native students.
Student groups and institutions can use grant funds for any activity or project that will promote the “Think Indian” campaign and scholarships in their community. Programs can include, but are not limited to:
- Informational, social or artistic events
- Art displays, installations or murals
- Music performances or video screenings
- Local awareness, publicity or marketing campaigns
- Online/social media campaigns
- Participation in existing campus or community events
- Themed volunteer or service events (including Native vote or census projects)
CLICK HERE to view summaries of the 2019 awarded projects.
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News & Events
American Indian College Fund and Pendleton Woolen Mills Student Blanket Contest Opens November 15
American Indian College Fund and Pendleton Woolen Mills Student Blanket Contest Opens November 15
Students Can Win Scholarships, Blankets, and Cash Prizes
Denver, Colo. November 15, 2024— Starting November 15, the American Indian College Fund and Pendleton Woolen Mills, the international lifestyle brand headquartered in Portland, Oregon, are accepting submissions for The Tribal College Blanket Design Contest. American Indian and Alaska Native students attending a tribal college or university are eligible to submit up to two designs. The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2025.
Now in its fifth year, the Tribal College Blanket Design Contest elevates the work of promising artists attending tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). Competition winners will have their designs distributed on products internationally and receive scholarships and cash prizes. Winning designs are featured on wool blankets in Pendleton’s American Indian College Fund collection. Pendleton has worked with the College Fund since 1995 and has provided over $1.3 million in scholarship support for American Indian and Alaska Native students attending TCUs.
Located on Indian reservations and in remote, rural areas, TCUs provide a critical link to higher education, career advancement, and Indigenous knowledge for their communities. Every year the College Fund provides millions of dollars to thousands of TCU students; the blanket design contest adds to that support while elevating Native art, culture, and stories.
Submission guidelines and applications are available on the College Fund’s website at https://collegefund.org/pendletoncontest. Any American Indian or Alaska Native student attending a TCU can submit up to two designs. Formal artistic study and textile design experience are not required.
Contest design winners are selected each year by a committee comprised of Native American artists and College Fund and Pendleton staff.
Prizes for the 2024 contest winners include:
- Grand Prize Winner:
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- $2,000 cash
- $5,000 scholarship
- Six blankets
- Second Place Winner:
- $500 cash
- $2,500 scholarship
- Third Place Winner:
- $250 cash
- $1,500 scholarship
The Drum Keepers blanket design created Trey Blackhawk. Pendleton Woolen Mills produced the blanket.
Trey Blackhawk (Winnebago), is the 2023 contest winner and designer of Drum Keepers. Blackhawk is a graduate of Little Priest Tribal College with a degree in liberal arts who is currently working on an applied sciences degree. Traditional songs were the inspiration for Drum Keepers, which Blackhawk said holds meaning for all tribes, as each uses the drum in some way. He wondered how the traditional songs of each community had been preserved and passed down and wanted to create a piece that reflected the importance of the drum that gives life to the traditional songs that are sung.
Blackhawk said, “I want to keep the songs alive that have been sung for many generations in our tribe. There are not many of us that sing, and I wanted to be a part of that percentage that carries on the knowledge of these songs we sing. I tell the younger generation to start learning how to sing and know these songs, as these songs make us who we are.”
About Pendleton Woolen Mills—Pendleton Woolen Mills is a heritage lifestyle brand and the leader in wool blankets, apparel and accessories. Weaving in Oregon since 1863 and located in Portland, Oregon, Pendleton weaves iconic designs in two of America’s remaining woolen mills located in Pendleton, Oregon and Washougal, Washington. With six generations of family ownership, Pendleton is focused on their “Warranted to Be a Pendleton” legacy, creating quality lifestyle products with timeless classic styling. Inspiring individuals from the Pacific Northwest and beyond for 160 years, Pendleton products are available at Pendleton stores across the US, select retailers worldwide, and on pendleton-usa.com.
About the American Indian College Fund — The American Indian College Fund has been the nation’s largest charity supporting Native higher education for 35 years. The College Fund believes “Education is the answer” and provided $20.6 million in scholarships and other direct student support for access to a higher education that is steeped in Native culture and values to American Indian students in 2023-24. Since its founding in 1989 the College Fund has provided more than $349 million in scholarships, programs, community, and tribal college support. The College Fund also supports a variety of programs at the nation’s 34 accredited tribal colleges and universities, which are located on or near Indian reservations, ensuring students have the tools to graduate and succeed in their careers. The College Fund consistently receives top ratings from independent charity evaluators. It earned a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, a Gold Seal of Transparency from Guidestar, and the “Best in America Seal of Excellence” from the Independent Charities of America. The College Fund was also named as one of the nation’s top 100 charities to the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance. For more information about the American Indian College Fund, please visit www.collegefund.org.
Journalists: The American Indian College Fund does not use the acronym AICF. On second reference, please use the College Fund.
American Indian College Fund President and CEO to Speak for Native American Heritage Month
American Indian College Fund President and CEO to Speak for Native American Heritage Month
Cheryl Crazy Bull to Address U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and The Hunt Institute
Cheryl Crazy Bull, President and CEO of the American Indian College Fund
Denver, Colo., November 14, 2024— On November 20 and 21, American Indian College Fund President and CEO, Cheryl Crazy Bull, will speak to both the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and The Hunt Institute as part of their Native American Heritage Month activities. Crazy Bull will first serve as the keynote speaker to Veterans Benefits Administration employees at 11:30 AM ET on November 20. This event is closed to the public.
She will then participate in The Hunt Institute’s Postsecondary Pathways panel “Building an Indigenous American Educator Workforce: Supporting Tribal Colleges and Universities” at 2 PM ET on November 21. She will be joined on the panel by Dr. J’Shon Lee of Arizona State University and Dr. Leslie Locklear of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Members of the public wishing to attend this virtual panel can register at https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/8417295551965/WN_UbJSGguHScCQrwiNvjV-rg#/registration
About the American Indian College Fund — The American Indian College Fund has been the nation’s largest charity supporting Native higher education for 35 years. The College Fund believes “Education is the answer” and provided $20.5 million in scholarships and other direct student support for access to a higher education that is steeped in Native culture and values to American Indian students in 2023-24. Since its founding in 1989 the College Fund has provided more than $349 million in scholarships, programs, community, and tribal college support. The College Fund also supports a variety of programs at the nation’s 34 accredited tribal colleges and universities, which are located on or near Indian reservations, ensuring students have the tools to graduate and succeed in their careers. The College Fund consistently receives top ratings from independent charity evaluators. It earned a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, a Gold Seal of Transparency from Guidestar, and the “Best in America Seal of Excellence” from the Independent Charities of America. The College Fund was also named as one of the nation’s top 100 charities to the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance. For more information about the American Indian College Fund, please visit www.collegefund.org.
Photo – American Indian College Fund President and CEO, Cheryl Crazy Bull.
Journalists—The American Indian College Fund does not use the acronym AICF. On second reference, please use the College Fund.
American Indian College Fund to Host Free Book Discussion Online with Indigenous Author Deborah Taffa
American Indian College Fund to Host Free Book Discussion Online with Indigenous Author Deborah Taffa
Event Scheduled for Tuesday, November 26th at 12:00 Noon MST
Denver, Colo., November 14, 2024— The American Indian College Fund (College Fund) is hosting a free, online book and author event for the public featuring author Deborah Taffa on November 26 from 12-1 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. Taffa will discuss her new book, Whiskey Tender, with College Fund President, Cheryl Crazy Bull.
Taffa, a member of the Quechan (Yuma) Nation and the Laguna Pueblo of New Mexico from her father’s side and Chicana from her mother’s side, is director of the MFA in Creative Writing program at the Institute of American Indian Arts, a tribal college. Taffa wrote the acclaimed coming-of-age memoir Whiskey Tender, which was nominated for a 2024 National Book Award.
Her book shares her journey from the Yuma reservation in Southern California to Farmington, New Mexico after her father relocated for a job under the Indian Relocation Act. She details her struggles for acceptance while seeking to understand her connection to her Native culture, lands, and traditions, and how she came to appreciate her identity and resist assimilation and oppression.
“Part of reclaiming our sovereignty as Native people is reclaiming the power to tell our own stories from a perspective that is a truer version of American history than the one that gets told,” Taffa says.
Whiskey Tender has received a slew of accolades from the Oprah Daily “Best New Book” to the New York Times “New Book to Read,” an Amazon Editors “Best Book of the Month,” and is a 2024 National Book Award finalist in nonfiction and a 2025 Carnegie Medal Nominee.
Visit https://engage.collegefund.org/page/73271/event/1 to register for the book discussion.
About the American Indian College Fund — The American Indian College Fund has been the nation’s largest charity supporting Native higher education for 35 years. The College Fund believes “Education is the answer” and provided $20.5 million in scholarships and other direct student support for access to a higher education that is steeped in Native culture and values to American Indian students in 2023-24. Since its founding in 1989 the College Fund has provided more than $349 million in scholarships, programs, community, and tribal college support. The College Fund also supports a variety of programs at the nation’s 34 accredited tribal colleges and universities, which are located on or near Indian reservations, ensuring students have the tools to graduate and succeed in their careers. The College Fund consistently receives top ratings from independent charity evaluators. It earned a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, a Gold Seal of Transparency from Guidestar, and the “Best in America Seal of Excellence” from the Independent Charities of America. The College Fund was also named as one of the nation’s top 100 charities to the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance. For more information about the American Indian College Fund, please visit www.collegefund.org.
Photo – Deborah Taffa (Quechan (Yuma) Nation), author of Whiskey Tender.
Journalists—The American Indian College Fund does not use the acronym AICF. On second reference, please use the College Fund.
