The Turtle Mountains are an abundant, forested enclave, standing out from the miles and miles of flat surrounding farmland. At Turtle Mountain, an Anhishinaabe nation in north-central North Dakota near the Canadian border, paved roads run along rolling hills, and the ground brims with multicolored wildflowers and tall, swaying grasses. The woods…

Indigenous language revitalization (ILR), or the act of reversing the language shift from English back to Native languages, is an essential task. Since their inception, tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) have worked to support and often lead language communities in this task. Since its beginning, Sitting Bull College (SBC), located on the…

Indigenous peoples have rich ways of knowing that have been passed down for generations. Specifically, mathematical ways of knowing are embedded within a nation's and community's language, culture, and place. This article describes how Turtle Mountain Community College now teaches three courses on Ojibwe mathematics which were designed and…

While there is a significant body of educational literature addressing the character and needs of rural communities in the Appalachian and southern regions of the US, there is a need for a better understanding of rural communities outside of this region. Existing literature focused on US rurality revolves around four main themes: the rural…

Cankdeska Cikana Community College (CCCC) is among the leading tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) for enrollment in career and technical education (CTE) programs. Since their inception over 50 years ago, tribal colleges and universities have had a strong focus on CTE, offering students a variety of opportunities to develop skillsets that…

For a tribal college or university (TCU), cyberinfrastructure includes not only the campus computer labs, servers, routers, and software applications, but the classroom technology, research laboratories, library facilities, and personnel who operate and maintain these resources. The cyberinfrastructure at a TCU is a foundational tool that ties the…

Job Corps is the largest and most comprehensive education and job training program in the United States for young people ages 16 to 24 who are not in school or working. Most students live at and take classes at its approximately 120 residential centers. To explore ways to improve student outcomes and reduce per-student costs, Job Corps pilot…

In this study, we use a narrative inquiry approach to present the stories of two Latino males attending community colleges in the Great Plains region of the United States that includes the Dakotas, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa, popularly referred to as "flyover states." The purpose of this inquiry, part of a larger study in an area of the…

This report is intended to show the changes in attendance patterns for traditional college students enrolled in the North Dakota University System (NDUS) over a sixteen-year period between 2001-2016. This encompasses the entirety of Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) reported data since the inception of online IPEDS reporting.…

Cankdeska Cikana Community College (CCCC) is a tribally controlled institution of higher learning that always has its eye on cultural inclusion, whether in STEM or any other program. The mathematics program at CCCC is the underlying force that ties everything together. Each of the Associate of Science degree programs requires that students pass…

According to the American Council on Education, only 30% of all college and university presidents are women, and only 5% are women of color. However, 43% of presidents at tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) are women, and 100% of those women presidents are Native. Tribal colleges have always led the nation in appointing women presidents. But…

The experiences of the Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College (KBOCC) and Sitting Bull College (SBC) criminal justice (CJ) programs represent a general shift toward robust remoting in the CJ field. While these institutions offer a small sample size, the complications associated with the emergence into digital technology are amplified at tribal…

Over the past 10 years, Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC) in Belcourt, North Dakota, has developed a formula for sustainable infrastructure development. The college does not take natural resources, use them, and then dump chemicals, carbon monoxide, or other toxic waste back into the ecosystem. Instead, the college has invested in…

Leaving the plains of North Dakota and entering the hills known as the Turtle Mountains, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians (TMBCI) reservation is found. Located on the TMBCI reservation, Turtle mountain Community College (TMCC) has provided opportunities for all interested parties to learn about fracking and why the tribe banned it.…

"The best, hidden jewel of Benson County" is how many have described Cankdeska Cikana Community College (CCCC), the tribal college of the Spirit Lake Nation. Recent interviews with CCCC students, along with an American Indian College Fund/Gallup research study, show the positive impact that tribal colleges have on students. CCCC prides…