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121 Oronoco Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

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+1 (703) 838-0400

Through AIHEC, Tribal Colleges nurtured a common vision and learned to see themselves as a national movement. Their work-research, advocacy and lobbying-was done through volunteerism and came almost exclusively from the presidents, community members, and other tribal and local leaders. Today, AIHEC has grown to represent 37 colleges in the United States and is the lifeline of these Tribal Colleges. Ford, Carnegie, and Donner Foundations offered initial start-up funds in 1973 to establish an AIHEC office in Denver, CO. The first president of AIHEC was Gerald One Feather, followed by Lionel Bordeaux. The Rockefeller Foundation provided AIHEC’s first leadership grant via the American Association of College and Junior Colleges which provided interns at Sinte Gleska College (Rosebud, SD) and Navajo Community College (Tsaile, AZ). AIHEC’s first 5-year service goals included curriculum, research & data, accreditation agency, institutional development, and human services.In 1974, funding development for member colleges began with initial funding through the House Interior appropriations committee.
Native American Heritage Month Q & A

November 1st – Question: Which two states have statutes that provide funding to TCUs to offset the cost of educating non-beneficiary students?

Answer: Montana and North Dakota.

November 2nd – Question: What significant initiative did AIHEC launch in 1981 to engage students from Tribal Colleges and Universities?

Answer: The first annual AIHEC Student Conference was held in Rapid City, South Dakota.

November 3rd – Question: Which report, released in 1969, criticized the U.S. government’s Indian education system and recommended greater Tribal control over education?

Answer: The Kennedy Report—Indian Education: A National Tragedy, A National Challenge.

November 4th – Question: In what year did the AIHEC Tribal College Journal transition to a digital format, expanding access to its content?

Answer: The Tribal College Journal went digital in 2011.

November 5th – Question: What act, signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1978, provided federal operating funds for Tribal colleges?

Answer: The Tribally Controlled Community Colleges Assistance Act (Tribal College Act).

November 6th – Question: What principle, reaffirmed in Worcester v. Georgia (1832), emphasized that Tribal sovereignty is recognized through treaties, not granted by the U.S. Constitution?

Answer: The principle of inherent sovereignty.

November 7th: Question: What is the term for the federal government’s legal responsibility to provide education, health services, and other resources to tribal nations, as promised in treaties?

Answer: The federal trust responsibility.

November 8th: Question: In what year did Congress recognize 26 Tribal Colleges and Universities as federal land-grant institutions?

Answer: 1994, through the Equity in Educational Land-grant Status Act.

November 9th: Question: What major international consortium did AIHEC help establish in 2002, alongside partners from New Zealand and Norway?

Answer: The World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium (WINHEC).

November 10th: Question: Which Navajo leader emphasized education as a path forward with the famous quote, “Education is the Ladder – tell our people to take it”?

Answer: Chief Manuelito.

November 11th: Question: What landmark Supreme Court decision in 1831 defined Tribes as “domestic dependent nations” with inherent sovereignty over their lands?

Answer: Cherokee Nation v. Georgia.

November 12th: Question: What is the name of the act, signed into law in 1975, that gave Tribes greater authority over education, health, and social services?

Answer: The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.

November 13th: Question: What landmark report in 1989 described Tribal Colleges and Universities as “underfunded miracles” shaping the future of Native America?

Answer: The Carnegie Foundation’s report on Tribal Colleges.

November 14th: Question: How did President Obama support Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) in 2009 after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize?

Answer: He donated partial proceeds from the prize to the American Indian College Fund (AICF) for scholarships.

November 15th: Question: Which U.S. government department is primarily responsible for funding and supporting Tribal Colleges and Universities through the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)?

Answer: The Department of the Interior.

November 16th: Question: What was the first Tribally Controlled College established in the United States, and in what year was it founded?

Answer: Diné College, established by the Navajo Nation in 1968.

November 17th: Question: In which state was the American Indian Higher Education Consortium first incorporated?

Answer: Colorado

November 18th: Question: Which institution, founded in 1654, aimed to educate Native students but failed when only two of the first 20 students survived?

Answer: Harvard Indian College.

November 19th: Question: How much funding does the Indian Student Count (ISC) formula allocate per full-time enrolled Native student?

Answer: $8,000 per full-time Native student adjusted for inflation, $8,699 per student has been allocated by the federal government.

November 20th: Question: What report, released in 1928, highlighted the poor quality of education and health services for Native Americans?

Answer: The Meriam Report.

November 21st: Question: In a meeting, hoping to procure millions of dollars in funding for Tribal Colleges & Universities, which TCU President said, “It’s all of us or none of us.”

Answer: Sinte Gleska University President Lionel Bordeaux

November 22nd: Question: How many accredited Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) are there in the United States today, and how many states do they span?

Answer: There are 35 TCUs across 16 states.

November 23rd: Question: Which institution, founded in 1879, became the first non-reservation boarding school for Native American students?

Answer: Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

November 24th: Question: Which U.S. federal act, passed in 1934, aimed to restore Tribal sovereignty by ending allotment policies and promoting self-governance?

Answer: The Indian Reorganization Act.

November 25th: Question: What was the name of the first college proposal to educate Indigenous students in the American colonies, and what year did it occur?

Answer: The “Henrico Proposal” in 1618.

November 26th: Question: Which act passed by Congress in 1921 authorized federal funding to support the welfare and education of American Indians across the United States?

Answer: The Snyder Act.

November 27th: Question: What ongoing challenge limits state funding for Tribal Colleges and Universities despite their open enrollment policies?

Answer: TCUs are located on federal trust land, so they cannot access local tax revenues or issue bonds like state institutions.

November 28th: Question: In what year did the U.S. government officially end treaty-making with Native American tribes, impacting promises of educational provisions?

Answer: 1871

November 29th: Question: How many TCUs offer Native Language Courses?

Answer: 33 TCUs

November 30th: Question: What year did AIHEC receive its first presidential proclamation for National Tribal Colleges and Universities Week?

Answer: 2024

AIHEC 1975 Board of Directors