AIHEC History
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