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…

This article introduces the reader to Art professor John Murie, of Stone Child College as he discusses how Native art is constantly evolving and integrating new ideas. Art symbolizes meaning--an awareness and realization of a mystical foundation of intersubjectivity, amd a communication between the artist and the admirer. Murie maintains that…

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…

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…

The heart of Little Big Horn College (LBHC) is wrapped in the passion of Joseph Medicine Crow. Medicine Crow, 96, a nationally renowned tribal elder and historian, has been influencing education on the Crow Reservation in Montana for decades. As one of the founding members of the Crow Education Commission, he helped start LBHC in 1980. Medicine…

The first thing J. Carlos Peinado tells his students is that every good story begins with a story. Peinado chairs the New Media Arts Department at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA, Santa Fe, New Mexico). He lives what he teaches. Before coming to IAIA, he worked as a professional filmmaker, most recently training his lens on the Fort…

Every year, faculty members publish hundreds of thousands of research papers in academic journals at the nation's colleges and universities. Almost none of these papers are written by tribal college and university (TCU) faculty. Is this good for TCU faculty because without the pressure to "publish or perish," they are able to focus entirely on…

For 20 years, the American Indian College Fund (the Fund) has been helping students to afford a higher education. In addition to providing more than 4,000 scholarships for American Indian students last year, it also provides tribal colleges with funding and programmatic support. The Fund was created in 1989 by the tribal colleges and universities…

Last year at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), President Robert Martin (Cherokee) led the faculty, staff, students, alumni, board members, and donors though a strategic planning process that resulted in a number of important new directions. Among these was a new mission statement to guide their work. Like most tribal educational…

Twenty-one teacher candidates and faculty from Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC, Belcourt, North Dakota) and Cikana Cankdeska Community College (CCCC, Fort Totten, North Dakota) traveled by train from North Dakota to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for an immersion experience as part of their Human Relations and Multicultural Education. The group…

The article profiles Native Americans in the United States who own their own businesses. Kim Johnson, a member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, owns KC's Oil and Lube, a business on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana. Johnson spoke to a business teacher at the "tribal college", received a scholarship, and took several years of…

The author explored how the oral tradition is currently "voiced" in tribal college and university classrooms. He asked a number of instructors how they approach literature and writing--particularly if the texts that they assign represent the value that Native people have historically given to traditional stories, teachings, speeches, tribal…

Like other tribal colleges across the nation, Fort Peck Community College (FPCC, Poplar, MT) has seen its student population get younger. As student demographics change, so do their expectations and needs, according to software game designer Mark Prensky. Faculty should be aware of the options and benefits of using technology to enhance…

This article describes the Leadership Development for the 21st Century: Linking Research, Academics and Extension program that began in June 2005. This 12-month program, designed to explore different models of leadership, develop peer networks, and enhance skills and knowledge in leadership competencies, is specifically for land grand educators…

In Peru and Guatemala, faculty found a rich intellectual history and vibrant cultural traditions suppressed by the Western education system.