Congratulations Graduates!

As June ends, the last of graduations at our nation's 33 tribal colleges and universities are winding down.

Our students have worked long hours, often juggling work and family responsibilities with their studies, to earn their college degrees.

Here at the American Indian College Fund, we understand the hard work, long hours, and dedication it takes to achieve and succeed. We want to congratulate all of you, and wish you the best in your professional careers.

We also want to remind you to keep in touch as you embark on your life's journey. We love hearing about your adventures, your new career paths, and your families. Please drop us a line at info@collegefund.org to let us know where your journey takes you!

In a good way,
Richard B. Williams
and the American Indian College Fund team

Native Students Thank You for Sharing Your Summer Bounty

June 21 marked the first day of summer solstice. Summer was traditionally a busy time among Native peoples, as sedentary tribes planted gardens and tended to their crops; and nomadic peoples followed the moving animals across the landscape and hunted and fished. Summers were and still are a time of bounty.

As we enjoy our modern summer and it fades into autumn, I think back on these months of my own youth. Autumn was a time to gather stores and prepare for a long winter, while also preparing to go "back-to-school." Returning to school is an echo of tradition, as preparing one's mind for harvesting ideas to use throughout one's life is one way to guarantee success.

Wherever you are and whatever your plans, as you enjoy your summer's bounty, we want to thank you for remembering our students by sharing your commitment to their education as they harvest knowledge, their traditions, and cultures at tribal colleges across the land.

On the Road Again-South Dakota

Be sure to watch our blog this week as Jonas Greene and Jaime Aguilar set out for South Dakota to visit tribal colleges, interview students, and learn about their projects, passions, challenges and joys.

Jaime and Jonas will share video, still photography, and many stories here.

Thank You to the College of Menominee

Thanks to the staff and students of the College of Menominee, the second portion of our visit was as successful as the first. We were able to interview some amazing students, including Liberal Arts and Sustainable Development major, Justin Gauthier. Justin had a unique perspective with regard to Menominee Nation's natural resources, explaining that while his grandfather's generation had the primary task of harvesting their trees, he and his generation have everything riding on maintaining the successful sustainable practices that have kept the Menominee Forest thriving since time immemorial. We anticipate great things from Justin as he navigates through his academics in preparation for graduate school and a successful career.

In many of the tribal communities we visit, we rely heavily on the tribal college faculty to help us connect with students. Challenges arrive in different forms and are usually rooted in having only a day or two to share time with students whose days are filled with classes, projects, and family obligations. We would like to thank the College of Menominee for not only welcoming us, but accommodating our every need. This is their way and each time we visit the Keshena campus, the faculty do everything they can to help us.

If we had such a thing as a most valuable faculty award it would go to Communication and Project Specialist, Dale Kakkak. A few years ago Dale helped us connect with students and locations for our Think Indian campaign.

As an accomplished photographer and journalist, Dale knows every nook of the Menominee reservation with all of its beautiful vantage points. We would like to say thank you to Dale as well as all of the students and faculty at College of Menominee for making our shoot a success. We will leave you with a few of our most memorable images of our visit.

Arriving at the College of Menominee Nation

We arrived in Wisconsin on this fifth and penultimate leg of our trip to an unseasonably hot and humid climate of Green Bay, then to the thicket of the Menominee Nation. Making our way through the forest, we arrived at the College of Menominee Nation (CMN) in Keshena to meet our our subjects for this project. They were gathered on the steamy afternoon planting their sustainable, permaculture garden under the blue water tower on campus at the entrance to the Menominee Nation Reservation.

Fruit trees, carrots, corn -- all types of veggies and fruits remain from the previous growing season and newly planted foliage are near the walking trail that leads into the forest behind the campus. Some of the beds are plotted to shape out the letters CMN. The garden, set up by a grant from the Clinton Global Initiative, is led by education major Dee Cobb. Using plants that replenish themselves by seed or annual fruit production, this sustainable garden is much like the students we meet to interview, being that they are all looking for their role in what types of seeds they have planted for themselves at this small tribal college.

The college on this reservation and the people here seek to thrive through education to better their community and traditions. One group, coming off a busy day of interviewing from their own video project, hope to learn and study elders' experiences and observations concerning climate change.

We enjoyed a visit with tribal college president Verna Fowler and learned more about the programs at the school and what we could expect from CMN in the future. There is an excitement towards the development of niche, Native American-driven, four-year degree programs beyond the sole four-year major in education currently offered. Many of the students we met are completing their degrees to move on to one of the many other colleges in the state of Wisconsin. Everyone remaining on the campus since classes ended is preparing for their commencement ceremonies on June 5.


One of our highlights of the trip has been the opportunity to talk with Cedar - one of our students featured in our Think Indian PSA campaigns. We found her on campus, no longer a student, but a recent graduate from a nearby university and now employed as an alumni employee of the college. We took time to interview her in a stunning atrium joining Shirley Daly Hall and Glenn Miller Hall in the center of the campus. The glass-paneled room, lined with hand-carved wooden accents, has a large Menominee ancestral bear carving bearing a ceremonial pipe and wearing a headdress, and made from the trunk of a butternut tree.

We also met one of our students and wer honored to be invited to see where he lives. Ironically, we were delayed by troubles with the vehicle he uses to commute to school, underscoring his financial need, but we continued on with our meeting and shared stories and songs along the shores of Legend Lake as he welcomed us into his life.


-Jaime Aguilar and Jonas Greene

Northwest Indian College - Day 2

After an amazing visit in Tulalip, Phillip and I continued north to Lummi where we had the great fortune of taking part in honoring the ruturn of the salmon. During the annual First Salmon Ceremony, the Lummi people celebrate the return of the salmon to the region's rivers. There were hundreds of tribal members and visitors gathered to take part the honoring. The treat of fresh-caught salmon was a delicious detour on our visit to the Northwest Indian College main campus.

In the few years since my last visit, the vision of the new campus has started to take shape. Three of the new buildings across the road from the original sight are now complete. There is now student housing as well as a new cafeteria and student services building.

We met many amazing American Indian College Fund scholars and were graciously welcomed by students and staff. We even ran into Sunny Guillory, who worked with the College Fund several years ago on a public service piece. Sunny has since graduated from Sitting Bull College as well as University of Mary. She now has a beautiful family of five, and her husband, Justin Guillory, Ph.D., serves as NWIC's dean of academics and distance learning.

On our way out, we stopped to admire the buildings and structures on the original campus. It's always natural to stop and admire the beautiful totem pole next to the NWIC library, one of the community's oldest buildings. Phillip was kind enough to take some time to tell us about this historical work of art.

--Jonas Greene

Northwest Indian College Visit

May 19, 2010

This week the tribal college tour continued to Northwest Indian College. We recruited former College Fund Media Manager Phillip Hillaire (Lummi) to serve as a liaison to his Native community. Of the tribal colleges, Northwest Indian College (NWIC) is very well known for pioneering distance learning programs. The college has several tribal locations in Washington and Idaho, making it possible for students to complete degree programs without having to travel to the Lummi campus.

As we made our way north on I-5 we could feel that this would be a very special trip. Our first stop was in Tulalip, where we met with American Indian College Fund scholar, Jennifer Cordova-James (Tlingit), who attends the Tulalip campus of the Northwest Indian College. Jennifer was more than happy to tell how this distance learning actually works and walk us through a typical day at the Tulalip campus.

--Jonas Greene