Native Americans are largely absent from the basic writing literature, yet their experiences and identity construction as emerging academic writers offer important insights for college writing instructors. This study addresses previous research on Native American college writers, the legacy of education and writing in Native communities, and the role of cultural identity and the connection between self and writing. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 students who identified as American Indian or Alaska Native enrolled at a public university and two tribal colleges. To generate discussion around writing identity and experiences, participants were asked to draw portraits depicting themselves as academic writers. Six themes emerged as representative of students' identities as writers. Findings also highlight the influence of culture and community on writing perception, which are triangulated with results from semi-structured interviews with faculty and staff. Recommendations are provided for integrating Indigenous literacies into college composition curricula.