The Poarch Band of Creek Indians is a matriarchal tribe located in Escambia County, Alabama. Poarch Creek women are an integral part of the Tribe and serve in various leadership positions within the organization. Poarch women are members of Alabama's only federally recognized Native American Tribe and their educational experiences are largely unknown. This dissertation sought to understand how Poarch Creek women with earned college degrees experienced the transition to college, and how the women perceived Tribal affiliation in the transition to higher education. This descriptive case study has a qualitative design and focused on the experiences of fifteen Poarch Creek women who have earned bachelor, masters, and/or doctoral degrees. Most women participated in interviews on the Poarch Creek reservation during the fall of 2022 and winter of 2023, while a few elected to interview virtually. The participants openly discussed family, relationships with friends, college recruitment and enrollment, college classes and extracurricular activities, college faculty and administration, and the Poarch Creek Tribe, as related to their first-year college experiences. This study determined that familial ties, Native invisibility, financial support, and cultural pride significantly influenced the way fifteen Poarch Creek women experienced the transition from high school to college. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]