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

Indigenous Identity is Not a Costume

Despite federal protections, every May American Indian and Alaska Native graduates are denied their right to wear traditional regalia at their graduation. Regalia is worn as a symbol of honor, achievement, and pride in cultural identity. In contrast, as Halloween approaches, thousands of non-Natives will dress up in costumes that dehumanize and disenfranchise Native peoples without anyone batting an eyelash.

Other offensive costumes harkening to German soldiers and minstrel performers have been pulled, but Indian costumes remain on shelves. At the most basic level, costumes based on cultural appropriation were molded to suit derogatory stereotypes. Beautiful, long buckskin dresses, which hold cultural significance and are worn as powwow regalia, are appropriated and refashioned into pleather “Pocahottie” costumes for non-Native consumers. Cheaply made, multicolored headdresses meant to reflect those found in Plains cultures also show up in Halloween costumes. Yet headdresses are not costumes. In many Native cultures, they are bestowed upon individuals as symbols of honor in recognition of specific acts of bravery or leadership.

Costumes ignore history and cement dehumanization based on misinformation in the minds of average Americans. The accounts of Native students and their families in reports such as the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education School Environment Listening Sessions from 2015 illustrate how deeply these stereotypes are embedded in everyday life. Examples include telling Native students in a PE class their kickball team would be called the “Redskins” and promising to “scalp the Indians” when playing against a school with a Native mascot.

There is still time this Halloween to reimagine your costume as a ghost, cat, or even a monster. Even if big brands and designers aren’t pulling Indian costumes from the shelves, a decrease in purchases sends a message.

If you really want to honor Native people past and present, after planning your spooky-themed new costume, consider buying select Native-made jewelry or clothing designs, or decor items like the Native student-designed Pendleton blankets from the College Fund. And in May, lend your voice in support of Native students in your community who are celebrating the milestone of graduation, and speak up for their right to wear their regalia proudly as a badge of honor and as it was intended.

Integrating Aaniiih and Nakoda Languages and Culture into Early Childhood Education

By Arlene Bigby, former Early Childhood Education and Education Instructor, Aaniiih Nakoda College

Belinda Horn sharing an All About Me book in the Nakoda language. Belinda and her daughter made the book during the family literacy night. Belinda also graduated with her Associate of Arts Degree in Early Childhood Education from Aaniiih Nakoda College in December 2025.

Belinda Horn sharing an All About Me book in the Nakoda language. Belinda and her daughter made the book during the family literacy night. Belinda also graduated with her Associate of Arts Degree in Early Childhood Education from Aaniiih Nakoda College in December 2025.

Aaniiih Nakoda College’s (ANC) Early Childhood Education (ECE) program is utilizing the Ihduwiyayapi Advancing Indigenous Early Childhood Education grant to strengthen Aaniiih and Nakoda language and culture through its early childhood program and students. In the 2025-2026 academic year, the program utilized a portion of the funding to host family events.

ANC ECE students used family events to promote Aaniiih and Nakoda languages while building practical experiences. The events integrated both languages with hands-on activities and gave early childhood students opportunities to work directly with children and to build connections with parents and community members.

The family activity nights were a way for the ECE students and instructors to connect with the community and demonstrate how the Aaniiih and Nakoda languages can be integrated into classrooms.

Aaniiih Nakoda College’s building, Returning Buffalo/Tataʔga Kni/Píítaanʔ’ʔ’nʔi Kéʔíʔaakʔí. Murals of culturally and ecologically important animals of the region decorate the side of the building. The murals were painted by Blackfeet Nation artist, Louis Still Smoking.

Aaniiih Nakoda College’s building, Returning Buffalo/Tataʔga Kni/Píítaanʔ’ʔ’nʔi Kéʔíʔaakʔí. Murals of culturally and ecologically important animals of the region decorate the side of the building. The murals were painted by Blackfeet Nation artist, Louis Still Smoking.

One such event was a book-making fair. Materials in both Aaniiih and Nakoda were available for children to make an “All About Me” book with their parents’ support. The books included blank pages for children to color or for parents to include pictures of their child’s earliest years. The completed pages were hole-punched, laminated, and connected with braids to produce a finished book the children could take home. While the families were creating their books, ECE students told stories in both Nakoda and Aaniiih. Elizabeth Horn, one of the students coordinating the activity shared, “I enjoyed it, as well as my daughter. She loves coloring anything and drawing, so she added her own personal touch to her pages.”

ECE students also planned and hosted a family literacy night. A Nakoda elder, Geraldine Rutherford, told a story in Nakoda and explained it in English. She emphasized the importance of teaching Indigenous languages and culture to children. After finishing the story, Geraldine and an Aaniiih elder, Marlene Stiffarm, shared their childhood memories during a communal meal. ECE students presented gifts to both elders in thanks for bringing their knowledge to the family literacy night.

Aaniiih Nakoda College campus.

Aaniiih Nakoda College campus.

The program’s language and culture revitalization efforts have not been limited to family events. Under the Ihduwiyayapi IECE grant, ANC’s ECE department has collected and distributed Nakoda and Aaniiih classroom resources to local early childhood teachers, including Indigenous children’s literature and pre-k/kindergarten curriculum materials. ANC’s library is now stocked with these classroom materials, and they are available to local teachers in the community. ANC held a training for local Head Start and Early Head Start staff focused on how to utilize these materials to integrate language and culture back into classrooms. Geraldine again lent her wisdom in support of the program’s work and reviewed the materials. She appreciated that ANC is using these materials in early childhood classes with aspiring teachers and for making these resources accessible to teachers within the community.

American Indian College Fund Hosting Online Book Discussion with Indigenous Author Carson Faust

American Indian College Fund Hosting Online Book Discussion with Indigenous Author Carson Faust

Free Event Scheduled for Tuesday, November 10 from 12-1 MST

Carson Faust (Edisto Natchez-Kusso Tribe), author of If the Dead Belong Here

Carson Faust (Edisto Natchez-Kusso Tribe), author of If the Dead Belong Here

Denver, Colo., October 13, 2026 — The American Indian College Fund (College Fund) will host a free, virtual book discussion with Indigenous author Carson Faust (Edisto Natchez-Kusso Tribe) from 12 p.m.-1 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. Faust will discuss his debut novel, If the Dead Belong Here, with College Fund President and CEO, Cheryl Crazy Bull. The event, part of the College Fund’s Native American Heritage Month programming, is designed to introduce the public to distinguished Native authors.

If the Dead Belong Here depicts the devastating effect of a young child’s disappearance on her family. After six-year-old Laurel Taylor vanishes, her older sister, Nadine, begins experiencing nightmares that convince her Laurel’s disappearance is connected to other family tragedies. Nadine relies on the guidance of her elders to lay old ghosts to rest in the hopes of finding her sister and healing her family.

Faust is a two-spirit enrolled member of the Edisto Natchez-Kusso Tribe of South Carolina. He has been awarded artist fellowships and residencies from the McKnight Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, and the Camargo Foundation. Some of his works have previously appeared in Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology (Vintage, 2023). He lives in Minnesota, where he is currently working on his second novel.

To attend the online event, which is free and open to the public, please register at https://collegefund.org/events/book-club-series-carson-faust/.

About the American Indian College Fund — The American Indian College Fund has been the nation’s largest charity supporting Native higher education for 37 years. The College Fund believes “Education is the answer” and provided more than $24 million in scholarships and other student support for higher education in 2025-26. Since its founding in 1989 the College Fund has provided more than $434 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 Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid (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 collegefund.org.

Journalists — The American Indian College Fund does not use the acronym AICF. On second reference, please use the College Fund.

Photo – Carson Faust (Edisto Natchez-Kusso Tribe), author of If the Dead Belong Here, will participate in a free, virtual book discussion with the American Indian College Fund on November 10.