Unsettling University Missions: A Presentation of Contemporary Tribal-University Relationships

• In Event: 35.059 - Indigenizing Higher Education by Centering Indigenous Perspectives

Abstract

Notable efforts have been made by colleges and universities nationwide to reconcile for their role in the disenfranchisement of Indigenous people through the inclusion of American Indian students and tribes in government relations, community engagement, and diversity and equity initiatives. However, such efforts are not universally practiced across higher education. In fact, most postsecondary institutions uncritically continue to uphold and reinforce the assimilative nature of institutionalized education, ignoring the role of education in the prosperity of Native nations. Drawing on the perspectives of tribal and institutional representatives from a multiple case study examining tribal-university relationships, this paper broadens the discourse on postsecondary institutional missions through an examination of contemporary tribal-university relationships and institutional responsibility to local American Indian tribes.

Author

• Theresa Jean Stewart-Ambo, University of California - San Diego