Partnering with museums and Indiana University, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) has helped create e-Humanity, an online cultural portal. Launched in June 2011, E-Humanity represents the beginning of a new form of cultural institution, one that will blur the lines between traditional museum authority and collections of…

In response to his kindness, Roger Bollinger was exposed to an ugly side of history. Like most Americans, Bollinger was blissfully unaware of the painful story of American Indian boarding schools. A civic-minded and concerned citizen, he supports education and cultural understanding. Such sentiments moved him to donate to Haskell Indian Nations…

As in the early days of the tribal college movement, tribal, federal, state, and private funding are still scarce. Fortunately, the founders of the movement, as well as those who worked at tribal colleges in the early days, created a template for others to follow. And tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) continue to turn out new leaders who are…

To the casual observer, it might seem that Western science is greatly influenced by Indigenous science and wisdom. Mainstream scientists are showing a surge of interest in the observational data possessed by Indigenous peoples, a growing willingness to work in partnership with them--rather than viewing them as source material, a general increase…

At first glance, Miami University in southwestern Ohio seems an unlikely spot for a major American Indian language and cultural preservation and revitalization project. There are no reservations in the state, nor is there a significant American Indian population. Yet, Miami University houses the Myaamia Project, a unique collaboration between…

As tribal colleges aim to retain Native male students, they're finding that talking, drumming, construction, and spirituality may keep men in school. Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Community College (LCOOCC, Hayward, Wisconsin) is just one of the tribal colleges across the country looking for innovative ways to attract and retain more men.…

The governance structure of most American Indian tribes was designed by the U.S. Department of the Interior in the 1930s, and tribes and experts say the systems disadvantaged tribal nations more than they helped. "These governments were not very sophisticated and were often unwieldy, with no provisions for court systems. These systems usually…

Tribal colleges are at the forefront of a communitywide effort to combat suicide with culturally relevant methods. The Wiconi Ohitika project is one of several tribal college and mainstream university efforts to address the high rates of suicide among American Indians. According to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the suicide…

Although 39 federally recognized American Indian tribes are headquartered in the state of Oklahoma, it comes as some surprise that there were no tribal colleges in the state until this century. During the past eight years, however, tribal colleges have been cropping up throughout the state, including the Comanche Nation College, the College of the…

Dine, the very first tribal college in the United States, and the tribal college movement are both celebrating their 40th anniversary this year. The seeds of the movement were sown many decades before the debut of the Navajo Community College. Indeed, since native peoples began attending mainstream U.S. colleges and universities 350 years ago,…

George Thomas, a Cherokee and an eager young graduate student at the University of Oklahoma in the 1970s, was discouraged to learn that American Indian students were openly discouraged from pursuing areas of higher education that involved "hard science." Thomas had been recruited by the university to serve as the director of its new program,…

David Gipp, Hunkpapa Lakota and member of the Standing Rock Indian Tribe, is considered by many to be the unofficial historian of tribal colleges and the tribal college movement. He has been president of the United Tribes Technical College (UTTC), one of the first tribal colleges, in Bismarck, North Dakota since 1977 and led the college to its…

Sustaining and strengthening tribal cultures, languages and traditions is at the core of every tribal college's mission statement. To help attain these goals, many colleges use one of Indian Country's greatest assets--its elders. Traditionally, elders hold a place of honor in American Indian society. Without cultural input from elders,…

This year, the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry announced the creation of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, the first of its kind in the Northeast. According to its mission statement, the center will create programs that draw on indigenous and scientific knowledge to support the goals of environmental…

If academics, students and supporters at the Newark Earthworks Center at The Ohio State University have their way, the Newark Earthworks will be listed among the likes of England's Stonehenge and Mexico's Teotihuacan in terms of international archaeological and cultural importance. Dr. Richard Shiels, director of the newly founded center and Dr.…