Volume 18 Summer 2007 Issue No. 4
In This Issue:
Health & Healing
subscribe to Tribal College Journal
ON CAMPUS
CMN to Prepare Students For Health Care Industry
The College of Menominee Nation (CMN, Keshena, WI) received a $2 million Community-Based Job Training Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. Only 72 community college partnerships out of 429 proposed partnerships nationwide were awarded the Community-Based Job Training Grant that was first introduced in 2004 by President George W. Bush. CMN was the only tribal college to receive one of the grants awarded last December.
“There is an increasing demand for community colleges to meet the educational challenges of the growing local health care industries,” said Dr. Verna Fowler (Menominee), president of CMN. “This grant will allow CMN to increase its ability to prepare students and workers to meet those educational demands.”
CMN’s project focuses on developing a bridge nursing program that allows students to earn credentials as a Certified Nursing Assistant, Licensed Practical Nurse, and Associate Degree Registered Nurse. This new bridge program will allow students to work part-time in the health care field while attending school. This component is essential to CMN students who often must work while attending college.
Other project elements include developing Medical Assistant and Medical Coding Specialist Programs along with increased short-term trainings such as First Aid, Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), and re-certifications. A youth component will introduce high school youth to various occupations in the health care industry. The tribal college also will create a “Learn and Earn” program focused on nursing for high school juniors and seniors.
This new program is expected to have a long-term significant impact on local Native healing and health. As 85% of CMN’s students are Native American, CMN anticipates nearly 85% of the nursing graduates will also be of Native American descent. This will significantly increase the number of Native American nurses in Wisconsin, the local region, and community.
Currently Native Americans are underrepresented in the health care workforce. The increased Native American workforce will increase the number of culturally competent nurses who understand diseases, such as diabetes, that plague Native communities. Culturally competent nurses will enhance the potential for increased personal satisfaction for Native American patients receiving the health care services, leading to a more favorable outcome in their healing and health.
For information, contact Jill Martin, sponsored programs director at CMN, at (715) 799-5600 or see the Department of Labor’s website, www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/eta20062030.htm.
Tribal College Offers Elders’ Teaching Class
 TEACHING ARAPAHO. Nelson White presents a graduation certificate to Delight O’Neal after completion of her education class. Photo by Sara Wiles |
Wind River Tribal College (WRTC, Ethete, WY) has partnered with the Northern Arapaho Council of Elders to teach the Arapaho language more effectively to all ages on the Wind River Reservation. Their approach involves teacher training for elders, college classroom instruction, and the tribal radio station.
When WRTC President Marlin Spoonhunter (Arapaho) returned to the reservation and took over the reins of the tribal college 2 years ago, he talked with schools and linguists about why there were not more people speaking Arapaho after years of language revitalization efforts there. The schools told him, “The elders who know the language don’t know how to teach.”
To Spoonhunter, that was not surprising. “They were not trained to teach.” On the other hand, many younger tribal members have advanced degrees in education. Consequently, the tribal college now pairs teachers with elders in its language classes.
The college also initiated elder teacher training classes to give the language experts an introduction to teaching techniques. The first day of class, the teacher training students shared the traumatic experiences when they went to school in the 1940s and ‘50s and were punished for daring to use Arapaho. A total of 20 elders enrolled, and 17 completed the 3-hour class for college credit.
At the college, six students take the Arapaho II class, many of them recent high school graduates. The instructor, Tillie M. Jenkins, uses a variation of the game of Jeopardy to keep the students’ interest high.
Arapaho is in the Algonquian family of languages. It is considered difficult because the sounds and sentence structure are so different than English. According to figures compiled by the college, only 242 people are fluent in Northern Arapaho, and all of them are 55 years old or older. This represents 2.75% of the 8000 enrolled Northern Arapaho.
Students in the Arapaho I class explained their interest in the language. April Guina said she uses her Arapaho mostly at the college. Her husband and children speak Shoshone. “I can’t talk to them,” she said with a laugh. When she went to high school off the reservation, she took Spanish rather than German or French “because they are brown like me.”
Randee Pongah said she wanted to be able to talk with her elders. “I teased my grandmother and grandfather because I thought they were always talking secrets... We need to know it.” Kayla Lincoln said she has a son, and she wants him to be fluent. “Without the language, we don’t have anything.”
Jenkins’s students in the Arapaho I class made a CD, parts of which are used on the tribal radio station several times a day. “Little kids listen, and they tell me they want to learn so they can be on the radio,” Jenkins said.
University, FBCC Partner To Offer 4-Year Degrees
Minot State University (Minot, ND) and Fort Berthold Community College (FBCC, New Town, ND) are starting a 3-year partnership aimed at making it easier for tribal college students to get 4-year degrees.
Fort Berthold Community College President Russell Mason, Jr. said it marks the first time the college has signed such a partnership with a state institution. He said the move will be good for students at both colleges.
Gary Rabe, the vice president for academic affairs at Minot State University, said he is excited about the potential of cultural and faculty exchanges. Under the partnership agreement, courses at Fort Berthold will apply toward a 4-year degree at Minot State. The colleges will compile a list of courses in each program to make the transition easier for students.
V. Judy Brugh, secretary of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation Tribal Business Council, said students from the tribe will benefit by being able to take classes for a 4-year degree over the state Interactive Video Network (IVN). Currently, Brugh said, many students, particularly those with children or job responsibilities, have a hard time leaving home to get a degree.
Brugh said she finished her own degree by taking night classes at the tribal college, and her granddaughter is now a student there. Students and faculty members at both colleges will be encouraged to do projects at each institution and seek to enhance Native studies programs, officials said. Some of the Native American courses at the tribal college will be made available to the students at Minot State University via the interactive Video Network, online, or by other methods and vice versa. Native American faculty or friends may be invited to get involved in the Native American Studies program at Minot State University through advising, teaching, or mentoring for this program. The schools may also work together on grants.
Reprinted with permission from the Associated Press and the Bismarck Tribune.
New Mexico , Tribal Colleges Sign Historic Agreement
 ACCESS AGREEMENT. Gathered to sign the agreement were Dr. Lawrence Isaac of Navajo Technical College; New Mexico Higher Education Department Secretary Dr. Beverlee McClure; Diné College President Ferlin Clark; NM Sen. Ray Begaye; Diné College Regent Clinton Jim; NM Sen. John Pinto; NM Rep. Roger Madalena; SIPI President Dr. Jeff Hamley; NM Sen. Lynda Lovejoy; and IAIA Interim President Richard Tobin. Photo by Curtis R. Benally |
The New Mexico Higher Education Department and the four tribal colleges in the state have signed an historic agreement to increase access and higher educational attainment for the state’s American Indian students.
The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed by New Mexico Higher Education Secretary Dr. Beverlee J. McClure and tribal college representatives Ferlin Clark, president of Diné College; Dr. Richard Tobin, interim president of the Institute of American Indian Arts; Elmer Guy, president of Navajo Technical College; and Dr. Jeff Hamley, president of Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute.
Announced in February, the MOA is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation. According to McClure, the Educational Equity and Access Division will help improve tribal students’ graduation rates which in turn will improve the quality of life in those students’ communities.
The memorandum will help develop strategies to improve the accessibility, retention, and education opportunities in New Mexico postsecondary institutions and tribal colleges. “The vast majority of our 2-year graduates go on to New Mexico 4-year institutions, and this MOA will help to facilitate this transfer of students,” said Hamley of Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute.
“The Path of Many Journeys” (a 2007 USA Funds-sponsored report focusing on higher education access for American Indian students) shows that an educated American Indian citizenry will contribute to a state’s economic development and alleviate the challenges faced by tribal communities. The report provides a rationale for states getting more involved in American Indian student success.
“Tribal colleges are the most effective in transitioning Native students into postsecondary education and in sending them on to four-year institutions,” said Dr. Maggie George (Diné), director of the department’s Educational Equity and Access Division. “Transfer students from tribal colleges into New Mexico’s public colleges and universities achieve a 75% graduation rate.”
George is responsible for an annual study of recruitment and retention practices for American Indian and Hispanic students at New Mexico’s public postsecondary institutions. The study is designed to improve recruitment, participation, and graduation rates of minority students by identifying practices that lead to success.
For information on the New Mexico Higher Education Department, call (505) 476-6500 or visit www.hed.state.nm.us. To view the USA Funds report visit www.usafunds.org.
SWC Nursing Department Graduates 100+ Students
Sisseton Wahpeton College’s (SWC, Agency Village, SD) Department of Nursing provides a true “ladder” program. Established in 1992, the nursing programs are approved by the South Dakota Board of Nursing.
The ladder program means students can achieve success in increments, first earning a Certified Nursing Assistant certificate, then progressing up the ladder to licensing as a Practical Nurse, and then as a Registered Nurse, as their interest and life circumstances allow.
The Certified Nursing Assistant program established in 1998 involves 75 hours of course work and then passing the state examination. Sixty-five students have passed the exam to become Certified Nursing Assistants.
The Practical Nurse program, which began in 2002, consists of 1 year’s worth of pre-requisite college courses and 10 months of nursing courses. So far, 44 students have successfully completed the coursework, passed the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN), and are now Licensed Practical Nurses. There are currently nine students enrolled who are expected to complete the program in June 2007.
The Associate Degree Registered Nurse program started in the spring of 2007 and consists of 10 months of nursing courses, in addition to other courses. When the course work is successfully completed, the student takes the national examination, NCLEX-RN.
The six students currently enrolled are expected to complete the program in February 2008. The program can accommodate 15 students, and enrollment is open in the spring and fall, so nine more students are expected in the fall of 2007.
In all three rungs on the nursing ladder, SWC students learn cultural sensitivity and lessons from Dakota elders. In addition to the formal classroom instruction, SWC nursing students also help program leaders to host an annual tribal health fair that features health screenings and awareness education on a variety of wellness topics.
SWC was established in 1979, is located on the Lake Traverse Reservation, and serves the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of the Dakota people.
For additional information on the SWC Nursing Programs, contact Alta Jaquet at (605) 742-1106
Diné Museum Transforms Into Research Institute
By Bill Donovan
Back in the 1930s, Norman Arns worked on the Navajo Reservation and became fascinated with the Indian jewelry he saw for sale in trading posts.
Arns took up silversmithing as a hobby and kept adding to his collection of silversmithing equipment even after he moved to New York. After Arn’s death, his widow donated the collection to the museum at Diné College(DC, Tsaile, AZ).
Harry Walters (Diné), now in his 34th year as director of the museum, said the college gladly accepted the collection -- recently appraised at $9,600 -- because it includes equipment used by Navajo silversmiths in the 1930s and ‘40s. “Some of the pieces are quite old and are no longer used by contemporary silversmiths,” Walters said.
There are old-time silver stamps, early soldering equipment, and a number of other unique items that the museum will someday place on exhibit. Together they show how the early silversmiths created the old-style jewelry.
Some of the items will also be used to train modern-day silversmiths, Walters said, noting that a silversmithing class is offered at the Shiprock branch campus.
This is the latest contribution to the DC museum, which has been praised for its efforts to preserve Navajo culture. Just recently, the college received a donation of an early Ganado rug.
But the biggest contribution by far remains the 2003 donation of 500 sand paintings by Louisville, KY, collector Morton Sachs. His donation has been appraised at $2.4 million. Sachs added to the donation just last month, Walters said. The museum is now awaiting delivery of the new gift.
Private donations to museums have decreased in recent years as many people choose to pass their collections to their heirs instead. The heirs in turn often sell to private collectors, rather than donating for a tax deduction. In the 1970s, Walters said, the DC collection was helped by the repatriation movement in which some of the nation's biggest museums returned many Native American artifacts to the tribes of origin.
But in recent years, DC and other tribal museums have emphasized making better use of the collections they now have rather than expansion.. Part of this is due to limited storage space.
As a result, the college has become more selective about what it buys or accepts. While it still acquires non-ceremonial items, the museum has a policy of bypassing items of a ceremonial nature.
It’s not uncommon, Walters said, for Navajo families to come to the museum and offer to donate a medicine bundle that belonged to an elderly member of the family who has passed on.
But Walters said the museum’s policy is to refer these families to the Navajo tribe's Historical Preservation Office, which has the responsibility of accepting these kinds of items on behalf of the tribe.
Walters said efforts are now being made to mount exhibits featuring parts of the collection, either singly or in conjunction with other museums.
DC is now working with the Salmon Ruins Museum on an exhibit on Dinétah that is expected to open later this year. Other museums throughout the Southwest and the nation also have joined with DC to put on exhibits that spotlight some of the college's collections.
As the emphasis has shifted away from expanding the collection, Walters said the museum is becoming a research institution, with staff members providing resources for those who want to preserve the tribal culture and keep it alive for future generations of Navajos.
Bill Donovan is a freelance writer who contributes to the Navajo Times. Reprinted with permission from the Navajo Times.
 STUDENT POWER. Tribal college and university students visited the AIHEC headquarters for a reception during their February 2007 visits to Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The students assisted college presidents with the annual visits to Capitol Hill. |
Congress Recognizes Native Languages’ Value
By Patrick Springer
With soup and conversation in a college gym, members of the Spirit Lake tribe are trying to keep their language alive.
People gather in the tribal college gym every other Tuesday for conversational Dakota language instruction. “We do it in a non-classroom, non-threatening setting, just to get people talking,” said Dr. Cynthia Lindquist, president of Candeska CikanaCommunity College (CCCC, formerly known as “Little Hoop,” Fort Totten, ND).
Spirit Lake, on the southern shore of Devils Lake, has perhaps 120 fluent speakers of Dakota -- most of them elderly -- on a reservation with a population of about 4,435. “We're losing these Native speakers,” Lindquist said. So are many other tribes. No known fluent speakers of Arikara remain, and just one fluent Mandan speaker is known to survive on North Dakota's Fort Berthold Reservation.
In December, Congress passed legislation authorizing multi-year grants to establish tribal “language nests” for young children, as well as language restoration programs and Native language instruction materials.
U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said he pushed for the legislation because it is part of retaining Indian culture. Native language programs on some reservations have shown benefits beyond language, he said. “The kids who are participating in these programs also have better academic performance,” Dorgan said.
More than 300 Native languages once were spoken in North America. That number has dwindled to about 175, and one estimate predicts the number of viable Native languages could drop to 20 by 2050.
The Dakota language is spoken by 20,355 in the United States and Canada, according to figures compiled by Ethnologue, a language database. An estimated 6,000 Lakota speakers, a very similar dialect, also remain.
A renaissance of traditional cultures has been spreading through many tribes in recent years, which has helped American Indians reconnect with their heritage, Lindquist said. That, in turn, helped boost self-esteem and combat alcohol and drug abuse, among other problems, she said
“The healing is coming through the culture,” Lindquist said. “Language and culture are entwined.”
This article is reprinted with permission from The Forum of Fargo. For more information about the legislation, search for H.R. 4766 at www.dorgan.senate.gov.
Students Tackle Global Warming, Reducing Waste
 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT. Darrel Madosh, Thomas Davids, Louise Davids, and Karolin Awonohopay took front row seats at one of the community awareness sessions hosted by the College of Menominee Nation. Photo by Jessica Buettner |
By Menomin Hawpetoss
The College of Menominee Nation (CMN, Keshena, WI) is among 359 colleges participating in a nationwide Campus Climate Challenge.
The program challenges college youth to promote, organize, and initiate a clean energy future. Sponsored by 30 leading youth organizations throughout the United States, the project aims to produce a generation-wide response to the global warming crisis.
The challenge was kicked off with a “Week of Action” in late January. Participating schools were offered a free copy and public viewing rights to the documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” in which Al Gore demonstrates the causes and effects of global warming.
Over 100 people watched the movie on the CMN campus. Some found the documentary alarming, but it ends with hope. Afterwards, CMN students expressed their willingness to change and combat this global issue.
CMN is also taking part in Recyclemania, a nationwide college contest to reduce the amount of waste produced on campus. The program emphasizes recycling papers, plastics, and aluminum by both the students and faculty. In a class project, students in the Implementing Sustainable Development class are measuring the amounts of recycled material gathered on campus.
CMN students and staff realize that if they don’t volunteer to make some changes, changes will be made for them as a result of global warming, overflowing landfills, and diminished resources. The students’ motto is, “If we don’t take care of our Mother Earth, our future generations will be left with the mess we leave today.”
Fort Berthold Community College (FBCC, New Town, ND) is also participating in the Campus Climate Challenge.
Menomin Hawpetoss is a student intern at the CMN Sustainable Development Institute. For more information, see http://climatechallenge.org
President Appoints Four Advisory Board Members
President George W. Bush appointed four new members to the President’s Advisory Board on Tribal Colleges and Universities (PABTCU) in the fall of 2006. The new members are S.Verna Fowler, Ph.D., the president of the College of Menominee Nation in Wisconsin; Dr. Joseph Hiller, an assistant dean at the University of Arizona (UA); Richard Stephens, a vice president at The Boeing Company; and Edward Thomas, the president of the Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska.
“I congratulate these individuals on their appointment to this important board,” said Dr. Gerald Gipp, the executive director of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. “We look forward to working closely with all of the board members over the next several months.”
The board works to ensure the nation's 35 tribal colleges and universities are supported and have full access to federal programs benefiting other higher education institutions. Its members make recommendations for ways to strengthen tribal colleges.
Fowler (Menominee) has been involved in education since 1964. She received her Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of North Dakota in Educational Administration with a cognate in Higher Education. She was active in the Menominee restoration movement serving as Ada Deer's assistant. Fowler is one of five founders of the Sisters of New Genesis of the Green Bay Diocese and a co-owner of the Wolf River Trading Post.
Hiller (Oglala Sioux) directs the UACollege of Agriculture and Life Sciences collaborations with Indian Country in Arizona. He holds the rank of professor and specialist in the Watershed Resources Program in the University of Arizona's School of Renewable Natural Resources. A decorated veteran, he is currently an Army Reserve Special Forces officer.
In a 25-year career with Boeing, Stephens has led a number of businesses related to space exploration. He has served on the Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education and also on the Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council. Stephens received his Master’s of Science degree from California State University, Fullerton. A member of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, he served as its chairman from 1988-89. He is a former U.S. Marine Corps officer.
Thomas (Tlingit) has spent many years in education, from classroom teacher to directing Indian Education at Ketchikan School District. He has a Master’s in Education Administration from the Pennsylvania State University. He serves as a board member of the Office of the Special Trustee for Indian Affairs.
Five years ago, Bush recognized the important role that tribal colleges and universities play in American Indian communities when he signed Executive Order 13270. The executive order provides for the advisory board and for staff in the White House Initiative on Tribal Colleges and Universities (WHITCU).
For more information, see www.ed.gov/whitcu or contact WHITCU at (202) 219-7040.
Haskell President Dr. Karen Swisher Retires
By George Diepenbrock
Former Haskell Indian Nations University(HINU, Lawrence, KS) President Dr. Karen Swisher accepted gifts and greeted well-wishers during a reception held in her honor last year. Colleagues, alumni, friends, and students lauded her as a skilled educator and gracious leader.
“She has been an exceptional leader in helping us through some very difficult times,” said Jackie Mitchell, of Mayetta, KS, a member of the Haskell Board of Regents and a tribal council member for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.
Swisher, 63, announced in May 2006 her plans to retire. She said the timing was right as the school neared the end of a 5-year strategic plan.
Recently, university leaders have struggled with funding issues as the Bureau of Indian Affairs within the U.S. Department of the Interior sets its budget. The school has had to rely on more volunteer and adjunct faculty members and make other changes as records show its classroom budget stayed at $9.1 million for 2003 through 2005.
Faculty, regents, and alumni praised Swisher for her work during her 7 years as president.
“I know that she’s agonized over very real and very tough decisions that must be made when resources don’t match need. But she’s never been filled with such despair that she’s allowed herself to believe that we, Haskell, are defeated,” said Venida Chenault, Haskell’s vice president for academic affairs.
During the hour-long ceremony, Swisher received gifts from different university departments, students, and Lawrence community members. The Center for Indigenous Nations Studies at Kansas University announced that a scholarship that helps a Haskell graduate attend Kansas University would be named for Swisher.
Swisher is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in South Dakota and started on the Haskell faculty in 1996 before becoming president in 1999.
Haskell Interim Dean of Humanities Dr. Denise Low-Weso and School of Education Dean Russell Blackbird praised Swisher for her work on helping advance baccalaureate programs and the nationally recognized Elementary Teacher Education Program.
During a short speech, Swisher mentioned the tradition that allows graduating students to write their own messages to be read as they walk across the stage.
“In those statements, you hear sometimes of their struggles, but almost always about their hopes and dreams,” she said. “They’ve had an experience at Haskell, and more and more we hear, ‘I’m going on. I’m going on to get a graduate degree.’”
To reach George Diepenbrock, email gdiepenbrock@ljworld.com or call (785) 832-7144. Reprinted by permission from the Lawrence Journal-World.
Three TCU Presidents Honored for Leadership
2006 INDIAN OF THE YEAR. Dr. Kim Winkelman, president, Comanche Nation College.
|
“MORE THAN BEADS.” David M. Gipp, president, United Tribes Technical College. Photo by the University of North Dakota.Three tribal college presidents - Ferlin Clark, David M. Gipp, and Kim Winkelman - recently were honored by their alma maters and communities.
Comanche Nation College President Dr. Kim Winkelman (Oglala Lakota and Abenaki) was recognized as 2006 Indian of the Year for the 75 th installment of the American Indian Exposition in Anadarko, OK.
Winkelman is a retired Army lieutenant colonel, according to a Lawton Constitution article. In 22 years of military service, he earned several military merit awards. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the The Citadel, a master’s from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California, and his doctorate from Walden University. Comanche Nation College was the first tribal college in Oklahoma.
United Tribes Technical College President Gipp (Hunkpapa Lakota) is featured in the University of North Dakota’s (UND) “More Than Beads and Feathers” poster campaign. He is recognized as one of nine successful Native graduates of UND. Gipp, a political science UND graduate, has been president of UTTC since 1977. Prior to that, he was director of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC). Throughout his professional career, he has received several national awards.
Ferlin Clark (Din é) has been president of Din é College since 2004. He is highlighted in Fort Lewis College’s (FLC) spring 2007 recruitment brochure. According to the brochure, he earned a B.A. in English from FLC in 1988 in Durango, CO, a master’s in administration from Harvard, and is now pursuing a doctorate from the University of Arizona. Last fall, the FLC College Alumni Association presented Clark with a Distinguished Alumni award. Clark is vice president of the AIHEC executive board.
Lilly Endowment Builds TCU Intellectual Capital
The American Indian College Fund has received an historic grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. The 5-year, $17.5 million initiative aims to build the intellectual capital of tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). The initiative will allow the diverse tribal colleges to tailor their programs to address their individual needs, while simultaneously strengthening the entire tribal college system.
Named Woksape Oyate (Lakota for “Wisdom of the People”), the initiative uses a multifaceted approach to enhance recruitment, retention, and development of highly qualified tribal college faculty, staff, and students.
Through a multifaceted approach, Woksape Oyate will develop leadership development programs, increased fellowship and sabbatical opportunities for staff, and pipeline programs to bring the best and brightest students back to teach at their tribal college. Institutional capacity will also be enhanced by creation of development offices and recruitment of highly qualified faculty.
The initiative also will strengthen academic programs at the tribal colleges by building tribal college academic centers of excellence in reservation communities, developing honors programs for students, and encouraging exchange programs to attract internationally renowned instructors to tribal college campuses. It will provide professional development opportunities for tribal college faculty. Finally, the initiative will provide much needed scholarship support to the best and brightest American Indian students in the United States.
With enrollment numbers rapidly expanding, tribal colleges rely heavily on private funding from supporters such as the American Indian College Fund and the Lilly Endowment to keep competitive with mainstream institutions. Tribal college faculty members routinely earn $20,000 less each year than their community college counterparts.
American Indian College Fund President Richard B. Williams lauded the vision behind the new initiative stating, “Lilly Endowment has long been a strong ally of traditionally underserved populations. Through its vision, we can significantly support the unsung heroes of the tribal college movement who seek to help our people through education.”
Lilly Endowment is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by three members of the Lilly family.
More information on the American Indian College Fund can be found at www.collegefund.org. More information about the endowment can be found at www.lillyendowment.org.
 MEMORABLE SHOT. The United Tribes Technical College Thunderbirds defeated Little Big Horn Community College (LBHC) and Jamestown College JV during the inaugural John Thunderhawk Memorial Basketball Tournament at the college in Bismarck last December. The tournament is named for the late John Thunderhawk, long time UTTC activities director. Members of his family were present for an honoring. Pictured is Jarvis Bearstail as he launches a three pointer for UTTC in the game against LBHC. Photo by Dennis Neumann |