Tomorrow night in Denver the American Indian College Fund honors the local elders with a buffalo feed for the holidays. Many people have wondered why American Indians honor their elders.
"Tunkashila, Grandfather, Great Spirit." It is this way that we begin our prayers in Lakota. Tunkashila, also means one’s own grandfather. The reason that the words are used this way is because our grandfathers are the elders of the tribe and in many ways personify the sacredness of the goodness and wisdom of the Great Spirit. Grandfathers carry the spirit of the people. Grandmothers are even more sacred because they carry the heart and soul of the people. Grandmothers carry the sacred spirit of the Mother Earth. Grandmothers give us gentleness and caring because they have also given us life. Our elders teach us who are ancestors were. Our elders are our connection to everything in our past. It is with their knowledge that we understand how we fit into the world.
Every grandmother and grandfather are sacred in many special ways. It is because of this that we will always respect our elders.
Hau, Mitaku Oyasin.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Sustainable Giving
There has been a lot of talk in the news about sustainability in energy, in business, and more as we have seen difficult times, and as we are faced with rebuilding our nation. It raises the question about sustainability in charitable giving.
When people give money for an unsustainable cause, that money will be spent, and after it is, the need will still exist. Although the cause may be a worthy one, such as providing money for children for Christmas gifts, or a meal in a homeless shelter, your gift has done nothing to eradicate that need.
The American Indian College Fund is an example of a sustainable charity. When you give to an organization like the Fund, you are helping to solve a problem: economic development in Indian country and the betterment of Indian people's lives. Once our scholarship recipients graduate, they go on to help people in their community, while serving as role models for other Indian people to pursue a higher education. As more American Indian people return to their communities with professional jobs, they raise the standard of living there--by providing better education as teachers, better health care as doctors and nurses, and by providing better job opportunities when they create entrepreneurial businesses on the reservation.
Like energy, businesses, and our financial institutions, we want our charities to be sustainable. The American Indian College Fund is a great example of a sustainable charity that is helping to change the face of Indian Country. Thank you for your support in educating our people.
In a good way,
Rick Williams
When people give money for an unsustainable cause, that money will be spent, and after it is, the need will still exist. Although the cause may be a worthy one, such as providing money for children for Christmas gifts, or a meal in a homeless shelter, your gift has done nothing to eradicate that need.
The American Indian College Fund is an example of a sustainable charity. When you give to an organization like the Fund, you are helping to solve a problem: economic development in Indian country and the betterment of Indian people's lives. Once our scholarship recipients graduate, they go on to help people in their community, while serving as role models for other Indian people to pursue a higher education. As more American Indian people return to their communities with professional jobs, they raise the standard of living there--by providing better education as teachers, better health care as doctors and nurses, and by providing better job opportunities when they create entrepreneurial businesses on the reservation.
Like energy, businesses, and our financial institutions, we want our charities to be sustainable. The American Indian College Fund is a great example of a sustainable charity that is helping to change the face of Indian Country. Thank you for your support in educating our people.
In a good way,
Rick Williams
Monday, December 1, 2008
Heading into the Holiday Season
As we head into the holiday season, I would like to issue a challenge: the best gift of all is to pay it forward. If someone helped you to get an education or encouraged you while you were a student, why not take the time to do the same for someone else?
One of our programs at the Fund allows you to not only give the gift of an education to an American Indian student, but also serve as a mentor through regular contact. Your words of encouragement and advice can inspire a student to stay in school, and may make the difference between just graduating and truly excelling.
To find out more about how you can expand your family by supporting an American Indian scholar, contact Eileen Egan at eegan@collegefund.org
I can think of no better gift this season than the gift of an education, while getting the opportunity to develop a relationship with an American Indian student, learning about another culture in the process.
One of our programs at the Fund allows you to not only give the gift of an education to an American Indian student, but also serve as a mentor through regular contact. Your words of encouragement and advice can inspire a student to stay in school, and may make the difference between just graduating and truly excelling.
To find out more about how you can expand your family by supporting an American Indian scholar, contact Eileen Egan at eegan@collegefund.org
I can think of no better gift this season than the gift of an education, while getting the opportunity to develop a relationship with an American Indian student, learning about another culture in the process.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Giving Thanks
As we celebrate everything that we have to be thankful for, I want to thank each and every one of you for your enduring support over the years. If not for our students, our tribal colleges, our teachers and tribal college presidents, and our supporters, American Indian education would not be where it is today.
Thank you one and all and have a blessed Thanksgiving.
In a good way,
Rick Williams
Thank you one and all and have a blessed Thanksgiving.
In a good way,
Rick Williams
Monday, November 17, 2008
National Indian Heritage Month
November is National Indian Heritage Month, and city, state, and private events are being held across the nation to mark the occasion.
As we celebrate our heritage, let's also celebrate our endurance as a people. We have achieved so much, and that is largely due to education that celebrates and reinforces our culture.
According to The Institute for Higher Education Policy, educational attainment correlates with economic prosperity. A person who has earned a bachelor’s degree or higher earns almost four times as much as a person who did not graduate from high school, and more than twice as much as a person who holds a high school diploma; this is true for American Indians and the U.S. population in general.
It isn't about the money, of course. Education is about bettering oneself and one's people, bringing them along so that we all as a people can enjoy greater standards of living, greater educational attainment, lower numbers of poverty, lower incidences of disease, and more fulfilled lives as Indian people.
As Sherman Alexie said during a keynote address at the National Indian Education Association meeting in Seattle, he was often asked by people on his reservation after he left to go to school, "Do you think you are better than us?" Alexie replied, "No, we're all better than this."
As we celebrate our heritage, let's also celebrate our endurance as a people. We have achieved so much, and that is largely due to education that celebrates and reinforces our culture.
According to The Institute for Higher Education Policy, educational attainment correlates with economic prosperity. A person who has earned a bachelor’s degree or higher earns almost four times as much as a person who did not graduate from high school, and more than twice as much as a person who holds a high school diploma; this is true for American Indians and the U.S. population in general.
It isn't about the money, of course. Education is about bettering oneself and one's people, bringing them along so that we all as a people can enjoy greater standards of living, greater educational attainment, lower numbers of poverty, lower incidences of disease, and more fulfilled lives as Indian people.
As Sherman Alexie said during a keynote address at the National Indian Education Association meeting in Seattle, he was often asked by people on his reservation after he left to go to school, "Do you think you are better than us?" Alexie replied, "No, we're all better than this."
Monday, November 10, 2008
Veteran's Day
Tomorrow is Veteran's Day. Our Native peoples have a long history of fighting for our country. Per capita more American Indians enter the armed forces than any other group. I would like to take this time to personally thank our brave American Indian men and women for their service and sacrifice to our nation.
In A Good Way,
Rick Williams
In A Good Way,
Rick Williams
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Yes We Can!
With the historic victory of President-elect Barack Obama, we learned an important lesson last night. Regardless of your political affiliation, the important lesson is that we as a people can do anything we put our minds to. America is the land of opportunity.
Historically Indian people have been the most impoverished in the nation. Yet with an education, like Obama, who was raised by a single mother, one can achieve anything. It takes hard work, persistence, and faith in oneself and the future.
I believe in each and every one of our students and their ability to achieve their education goals and to build a better life for themselves and their people. I believe in the hopes and dreams of people in Indian Country and the ability of those hopes and dreams to transform Indian Country to a vibrant place where our traditions and our people will see a new dawn. I believe in the dignity and ability of each and every person in Indian Country to take control of their lives and to live the life they were destined to live.
It's time now for us to work together for the good of our country and Indian Country. Education will transform our nations and our people. Yes, you can!
Historically Indian people have been the most impoverished in the nation. Yet with an education, like Obama, who was raised by a single mother, one can achieve anything. It takes hard work, persistence, and faith in oneself and the future.
I believe in each and every one of our students and their ability to achieve their education goals and to build a better life for themselves and their people. I believe in the hopes and dreams of people in Indian Country and the ability of those hopes and dreams to transform Indian Country to a vibrant place where our traditions and our people will see a new dawn. I believe in the dignity and ability of each and every person in Indian Country to take control of their lives and to live the life they were destined to live.
It's time now for us to work together for the good of our country and Indian Country. Education will transform our nations and our people. Yes, you can!
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