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The American Indian College Fund is releasing three briefs with findings from a three-part research project conducted in 2020-21 on tribal colleges and universities.
The focus of the research includes student support services, program development and review, and sustainability in tribal colleges and universities.
TCUs are unique higher learning institutions located on or near Indian reservations.
Read the brief (PDF)
There were four major themes identified in the study around academic program development, the preferred term participants used when discussing postsecondary credentialing or quality assurance practices.
TCUs use a four-step process similar to mainstream colleges when developing new academic programs: planning, internal review, external review, and program implementation.
The American Indian College Fund has been the nation’s largest charity supporting Native higher education for over 30 years.
The College Fund believes “Education is the answer” and provided over $14 million in scholarships and other direct student support to American Indian students in 2021-22.
Since its founding in 1989, the College Fund has provided more $280 million in scholarships, programs, community, and tribal college support.
Montana ended its legislative session by passing a bill guiding the removal and placement of Native American children in cases of adoption and foster care.
Montana Public Radio’s Ellis Juhlin has more on changes made with and without support of tribal lawmakers.
The bill (PDF) creates the Montana Indian Child Welfare Act (MICWA).
The policy builds on existing federal law regarding removal of Native American children, and prioritizes placing them into the homes of family members or other tribal members.
Over a dozen other states have passed statewide ICWA policies to increase guidelines for child placement, and they have all seen decreased rates of native children in state custody as a result.
Montana’s rate of native children in foster care is nearly four times higher than the rate of caucasian children.
Patrick Yawakie, a lobbyist for the Blackfeet Nation, said by expanding on the federal policy, MICWA fills gaps in the system.
With Montana ICWA in law, we can work to fix a broken system in the state and provide that the tribal children retain tribal identity and culture and heal intergenerational traumas that exist when native children are removed from their homes.
As Montana moves forward with the policy a federal version is being challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court case by those who say it gives preferential treatment based on race.
The Montana bill contains a provision that will keep it in place regardless of the outcome of the federal case.
Tribal lawmakers pushed back on an addition to the state bill that would sunset the policy in 2025.
Supporters of the policies’ limited run say it will give lawmakers a chance to revisit it next legislative session. But opponents say it will disrupt the lives of children and families in the system.
The bill passed as amended out of both chambers.
Montana’s legislatives session has now ended and the bill awaits final approval by the governor.
Alanna Nulph displays one of the drones used in her new search and rescue program under a Yurok initiative focused on finding missing Indigenous people. (Photo courtesy: Alanna Nulph)
Alanna Nulph, a senior paralegal and tribal criminal jurisdiction coordinator for the Yurok Tribe in Northern California, spent years working on missing and murdered Indigenous people cases in the region.
Native News Online reports that after the tribe’s own Emilee Risling went missing in October 2021, Nulph decided that she needed to take even more direct action in the face of what she felt was helplessness.
Nulph took it upon herself to earn a Part 107 Remote Pilot Certification from the Federal Aviation Administration in February this year.
The license is required to operate drones for search-and-rescue missions.
For the Yurok program, Nulph has acquired two high-powered drones with a range of additional tools to help search-and-rescue efforts.
The drones are also equipped with a payload delivery system that can deliver water, food, and other necessities to people awaiting rescue, and can provide light for first responders tending to a wounded person.
The drone program will become a part of the Yurok Tribe’s “comprehensive” response to one of the largest crises facing Indian Country.
According to a 2022 Congressional Research Service Report, there were 9,560 cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous people in 2020 alone.
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