Governance at tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) affirms the connection between the sovereignty of tribal nations and regional accreditation standards. Shared governance, where faculty, administrators, and trustees all contribute to oversight and decision-making, is a central component at TCUs and has unique implications for tribal…

American Indian graduate students are experiencing a higher matriculation rate in higher education today; however, those rates are still lower than other underrepresented minority groups' rates. The purpose of this study is to conduct exploratory research to investigate the decision-making process of American Indian/Alaskan Native professionals…

Recently, the question has arisen as to whether or not federal Indian law should be taught at tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). To answer this three questions must be asked: (1) Why should such a subject be taught and who would teach it; (2) Which department should be responsible for Indian law courses; and (3) Should they be offered…

Students in Sitting Bull College's lay advocate program develop a well-rounded understanding of the law, enabling them to represent defendants in tribal courts. The program offers legal training for its students--and illustrates how American Indian nations can broaden legal representation for Native defendants in tribal courts. It is one of only…

This case study of undergraduate early childhood education pre-service teachers in an international field experience examines living, working, and studying in a sovereign nation while still "at home" within the United States. In our various roles (researcher, pre-service teacher, faculty mentor), we explored the impact of colonization as…

The relationship between American Indians and the U.S. federal government and state governments is complicated. It is a relationship that controls almost all aspects of tribal life and has resulted in American Indians being the most legislated people in the United States. For many years tribal people relied on non-Native attorneys to help navigate…

In this article, the author, who is the long-serving president of Sinte Gleska University, recalls his journey to the presidency and shares his hopes for the future. He stresses that educators nowadays are again challenged to redefine and restructure education at tribal colleges and within their elementary and secondary schools. These institutions…

This article argues that federally-funded Indigenous teacher preparation programs housed at mainstream, predominantly White universities can be colonial and thus require significant focused work in order to ensure that they are not. The article has three interrelated objectives: first, to discuss efforts to prepare Indigenous teachers for…

Wisconsin Act 31 was established for the purpose of addressing American Indian history, culture, and sovereignty within K-12 schools as a response to treaty rights issues in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Yet, in the 21 st century there remain issues with compliance throughout not only K-12 schools but also institutions of higher education. The…

Fort Belknap Indian Reservation's food system typifies that of many rural communities. Most food is grown and processed hundreds or thousands of miles away and transported long distances before it reaches the local grocery shelf. Like oil and gas, food prices are largely determined by international commodity markets driven by global supply,…

This study examines language attitudes among Mongols in Inner Mongolia, using an extensive questionnaire. Forty Mongolian students who are studying at Inner Mongolia Normal University participated in this study. The results show that Mongols hold more positive attitudes toward putonghua and English than toward the Mongolian language in many…

This dissertation draws on theories of survivance and rhetorical sovereignty to document and interrogate interactional tensions in rhetorics of presence and performance occurring between selected American Indian students and non-Native faculty, staff, and graduate research assistants within a research-extensive university context. Tensions arise,…

Interest in Indian law is growing as the economic clout and political influence of the nation's 562 federally recognized tribes have expanded. Arizona State's Indian Legal Program allows students who are pursuing their J.D.'s to simultaneously earn certificates in Indian law. They study the differences between the legal systems of tribes and that…

At approximately 9,500 years old, two sets of human remains from La Jolla, California (W-12), known as the University House Burials due to the physical location of their discovery on property owned by the University of California, San Diego, are some of the oldest in the United States. These burials are central to a repatriation controversy…

In this comprehensive effort to study Indian education policies, the report categorizes the policies of five Northwest Region states based on 13 key policies identified in the literature and describes the legal methods used to adopt them, such as statutes, regulations, and executive orders. The study found that six of the key policies had been…