June Colorado Community Event Introduces Local People to Native Peoples and Cultures
Denver, Colo.—Tribal college student Stephen Yellow Hawk spoke Thursday, June 4, at the American Indian College Fund’s Colorado Community Celebration in Denver. Yellowhawk received the Student of the Year award for 2008-09 from Oglala Lakota College, yet he talked openly about the many challenges and joys in his life—beginning with his childhood on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, to learning to speak his Native Lakota language, to the challenges of juggling fatherhood and family financial responsibilities while studying at college. His goal as a teacher is to serve as a role model and mentor, while teaching young children to embrace their identity as American Indian people.

But achieving his mission has not always been easy for Yellowhawk, and he is not alone. He says without a scholarship from the American Indian College Fund, he could not have attended college. The financial hardships Yellowhawk faces are similar to those facing many of his peers, and are compounded by high rates of unemployment and poverty in American Indian communities, particularly on Indian reservations. Nearly 26% percent of all American Indians and Alaska Natives live below the poverty line, contrasted with a national poverty rate of 12.4%. The gap is even larger for people living on reservations with limited economic opportunities, with 51% of the population living below the poverty line. And even though the nation’s poverty rate dropped from 11.8% in 1999 to 11.3 % in 2000 (the lowest in 21 years), American Indian’s and Alaska Native’s poverty rate did not drop, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Yellowhawk said the American Indian College Fund’s scholarships have helped him to achieve his dream.

The Fund’s headquarters have been based in Denver for the past 12 years, and to help build awareness about its presence in Colorado, it hosted the event at the Colorado History Museum to introduce local business leaders and community members to not only the Fund, but the American Indian community.

In addition to Yellowhawk’s speech, attendees had the opportunity to hear a tribal college president’s perspective about the importance of culturally based education from Dr. Richard Little Bear, a linguist who has revived the Northern Cheyenne language at Chief Dull Knife College in Montana. There also was a silent auction, Northern and Southern Plains Indian dance performances, crafts for children, and a prominent Native American weaver giving demonstrations, and, behind the scenes, the building of connections.

The event was co-hosted by the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce. USA Funds of Indianapolis, Indiana was a financial sponsor of the event.

The American Indian College Fund relies on relationships with individuals, corporations, and foundations to support the 33 tribal colleges located in more than 12 states that serve America’s Indian tribes. In addition, the Fund distributes an average of 5,000 scholarships to American Indian students annually.