The American Indian College Fund hosts several special events and tribal college tours annually. We enjoy these opportunities to showcase the successes of our students, provide cultural entertainment and visit with our supporters.

Fund Supporters Travel to Southwest
The American Indian College Fund offers its supporters a chance to see how their donations impact students through tribal college tours. In April donors traveled to the American Southwest to the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA); Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute; Navajo Technical College; and Diné College, the first tribal college established in North America in 1968 on the Navajo nation.

Mellon Fellow and playwright Terry Gomez (Comanche) served as the tour guide, sharing her experiences as a TCU student and faculty member at IAIA, and how the Mellon Fellowship allowed her to finish her terminal degree.

Participants were brought to tears as they heard scholarship recipients' inspirational stories about overcoming their hardships at Diné College. Tour participant Judy Schindler noted she struggled to put herself through school to get a nursing degree, “taking every dirty job there was, so I am so glad to be able to help [TCU students] with scholarships, because I know how hard it can be.”

Participants also learned about the colleges' projects that are helping develop Indian Country economically and help its people and environment, including the Internet to the Hogan project at Navajo Technical College and the research students are doing there about radiation from uranium mining on the local piñon trees.

"It's amazing to see how far the colleges can stretch a dollar and make limited resources work for them," said Joan Dayton, a six-time tour participant.

An essential component of American Indian College Fund tours is cultural presentations. Local residents on the Hopi reservation demonstrated how they create silver jewelry, katsina dolls, pottery , and woven baskets, and later treated the tour to a traditional meal of parched corn and piki bread.

Please join us for an evening to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the American Indian College Fund in the home town of its national headquarters!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Seawell Grand Ballroom, Denver Center for the Performing Arts

The evening will feature performances by Native dancers and drum groups, along with a fine arts auction and program about the history of the Fund.

The American Indian College Fund (the Fund) is the premier scholarship organization for American Indian students. The Fund was created in 1989 by the tribal colleges and universities and private partners to raise scholarship funds and funding for America's tribal colleges.

The first tribal college was Diné College, founded as Navajo Community College, in 1968. Today there are 32 accredited tribal colleges and universities which serve college students and provide needed services to American Indian communities. Tribal colleges are the conduits of health education and disease prevention, serve as daycare and health centers, provide libraries and computer centers, provide indigenous research and language preservation classes to the community, and are the hub of activities and lifelong learning.

The Fund has raised millions of dollars for scholarships and capital funding for campus infrastructure in its mission, and last year awarded nearly 4,000 scholarships to American Indian students to encourage students to remain in college, complete a college degree and build a better future for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Despite these achievements, there is still great need in Indian Country. U.S. Census Bureau figures show that American Indians are the poorest group in the country, living well below the poverty line. In hard economic times, American Indians face even greater hurdles to achieving a higher education. The American Indian College Fund's supporters make the difference between poverty and hope in Indian Country.

For more information or to register, please contact Lucia Novara at 303-426-8900 ext. 308 or lnovara@collegefund.org

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. » More