The purpose of this research project was to understand the food environment of the Fort Totten community on the Spirit Lake reservation in east-central North Dakota, as perceived by tribal members and employees at Cankdeska Cikana Community College (CCCC). According to a 2010 report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the food…

Since the first tribal college was established in the late 1960s, tribal colleges and universities have offered technical-learning opportunities to students in isolated communities around the country. From the onset, many of these colleges focused on providing practical skills and vocational job training, and frequently targeted nontraditional,…

In the wild river region of northeastern Wisconsin, the Menominee people conserved a portion of their ancient homelands now known as the Menominee Indian Reservation. The Menominee are nationally known for their majestic forests. The Wolf River flows southward for more than 200 miles from its headwaters in Pine Lake to Lake Poygan near the city of…

Many tribal colleges are already offering distance learning. With increased Internet use, it's likely that even more will offer online courses to their tribal members in order to reach a larger student pool. Online education can reach students who care for their immediate and extended families and who have to work. It is also appealing to students…

Tribal colleges are often performing little miracles in their communities. Most tribal colleges operate without benefit of local and state taxes. Yet, they bring in new money from other sources that stimulate the local economy. Students gain knowledge and skills that can transform their communities and local economies. Tribal colleges not only…

During the author's early years of high school, he made it his mission to do well. He is proud and honored to say that he has attended Dine College (Tsaile, Arizona). Dine College was the foundation of his college career. It allowed him to develop a sense of financial awareness and readiness and the right place for him to begin--financially. Now,…

This article describes how the American Indian College Fund helps tribal college and university (TCU) faculty members conduct research and complete their Ph.D.s--and tackle unique challenges. Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the fellowship programs administered by the College Fund pay a one-year stipend…

From its inception in 1988, the "Tribal College Journal" (TCJ) has been a family affair. Paul Boyer, the buoyant founder of the TCJ who published, produced, and edited the magazine until 1995, says the magazine sprouted not from an idealistic plan but from a combination of his own youthful enthusiasm; the support and guidance of his late father,…

In 2005, Lumina Foundation for Education supported five colleges in the Northwest--Evergreen State College (TESC), Grays Harbor College (GHC), Northwest Indian College (NWIC), Salish Kootenai College (SKC), and Bainbridge Graduate Institute--to work together to develop Native teaching cases as a culturally relevant and engaging resource for Native…

As the sun rises across Indian Country students attending tribal colleges wake up to another day of classes, kids, work, and culture. Many tribal college students are not fresh out of high school. They have often worked, married, and had children before returning to school. A big factor in their decisions to attend tribal colleges is maintaining…

This column relates the story of Dylan Olson, a struggling business student at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College (Cloquet, Minnesota). During construction of a new gas and convenience store on the Fond du Lac Reservation, Olson recognized an opportunity, applied for the manager's position, and was hired. Olson's experience illustrates the…

Fort Belknap College has embarked on an ambitious project in Montana to pull the Gros Ventre and the Assiniboine languages back from the brink. On the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, where there are two principal tribes, only a handful of Gros Ventre, or White Clay, members are still fluent in the traditional tongue. The "tribal college" already…

Eight years after Chief Sitting Bull, prophetic chief of the Great Sioux Nation, was assassinated in 1890, Guglielmo Marconi transmitted the first wireless telegraph signals across the Atlantic to England. Although these two events seem unrelated, the names of these two men of vision are linked together today by Marconi's wireless invention. Data,…

The article focuses on the overall health of American Indians. Native people living on reservations and in urban areas face a broad array of health problems. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta is committed to improving the health of Native Americans. CDC is one of the agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human…

Describes the formation and operations of the Navajo Dryland Environments Laboratory (NDEL). NDEL, established by the Waste-Management Education and Research Consortium of New Mexico on the campus of Navajo Community College, focuses on environmental geology, hydrology, and resource management of the Colorado Plateau drylands. (DMM)