For over 40 years, tribal colleges and universities have devised innovative programs to address behavioral and tribal health. Cheryl Crazy Bull, president and CEO of the American Indian College Fund, looks back at the progress made and details current strategies and initiatives.

In this article, the author discusses the history and practice of "star quilt" making. The star quilt has become synonymous with the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, home to the Assiniboine and several bands of Lakota and Dakota. Receiving a quilt is considered a great honor and often takes place at powwows, funerals, memorials, and even…

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…

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.…

Across the United States, tribal people are noticing adverse changes in the natural world due to climate change--and these changes affect their cultures. Today, tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) are developing and delivering the education and research opportunities needed to produce the next generation of American Indian science,…

Compared to the general population, American Indians are experiencing an alarmingly increased rate of suicide, which some estimate at 50% higher than other ethnic groups. On the campuses of some tribal colleges, things look equally bleak, with 15% of students reporting that they seriously considered suicide over the past 12 months. While the…

While tribal college athletic programs were not designed to market the colleges, there is no denying they have generated positive attention and have perhaps even helped to highlight the colleges' purpose. Dine College and Navajo Technical College are among a handful of tribal colleges who have made athletic programs a priority. They have since…

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…

This article profiles teacher Leroy Silva (Laguna), 27, a.k.a. "Buster". Silva describes himself as an active guy who stays busy working out, playing basketball, softball, and more recently golf, soccer, and lacrosse. He teaches personal wellness and sports (not physical education), a job he began in 2006. Before that he was a trainer at the…

Bill Leap responds to questions regarding reasons for the disappearance of traditional languages, steps in and barriers to language renewal, the need for written language, the importance of understanding a community's culture when studying or teaching the language, and the roles tribal colleges and linguists can play in language preservation. (DMM)

Traces increases in Indian-controlled economic development, community health, and cultural programs on reservations, highlighting the role of tribal colleges. Discusses Indian education's prior goals of complete submersion in White culture and separation of students from their heritage/language. Considers ways this legacy persists. Highlights…

Describes the different approaches to art by the American Indian and western cultures and the approach of students at the Institute of American Indian Arts, combining elements from each to create new Indian art forms. Discusses the Indian Arts and Crafts Bill of 1990 and its definition of Indian art and artists. (DLM)

Describes the difficult position of Native American artists seeking to maintain cultural integrity and creativity while producing commercially feasible works of art. Uses a hypothetical situation of two pottery makers, one mass marketing less expensive items and the other promoting authentic wares, to illustrate the inherent demands and conflicts…