By Natalie Pate for The Hechinger Report.Broadcast version by Eric Tegethoff for Oregon News Service reporting for The Hechinger Report-Public News Service Collaboration Jaeci Hall completed her dissertation in tears. She was writing about the importance of revitalizing and teaching Indigenous languages, specifically the Nuu-wee-ya’ language and her tribe’s dialects. “I spent months writing,” she said, “just crying while I wrote because of how it felt to not be recognized.” Hall — who graduated in 2021 with a doctorate in linguistics from the University of Oregon — is the language coordinator for the Coquille Indian Tribe. .
A community college in Winnebago, Little Priest Tribal College, celebrates its 25th anniversary this September. After more than 20 years of roughly 120 students, enrollment passed 200 last fall. Little Priest President Manoj Patil said a common misconception is that only Native Americans can enroll, but the student body has been roughly 78% Native American and 22% non-native students in recent years. .
Indigenous advocates kick off educational listening sessions in rural Montana this month to educate Native Americans about actions the state legislature took this session soon to affect them. The group Western Native Voice holds culturally tailored community meetings to ensure Montana s Native Americans are engaged in and educated about policy decisions affecting their lives. The group is embarking on a series of listening and teaching sessions to help Native populations around Montana understand issues ranging from health care to voting rights. .
Around the U.S., there are efforts among tribal nations to reclaim stolen land from colonization and preserve language history, and a South Dakota organization is part of a movement to empower communities with data. The Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation is embracing what s known as data sovereignty. Dallas Nelson, Lakota language and education director for the group, is helping to lead efforts to develop a system to preserve key information for communities within the Pine Ridge Reservation. .
Stephanie Russo Carroll, associate director of the Native Nations Institute, has focused her career on encouraging institutions to adopt policies and practices that recognize Indigenous Peoples' right to control data about their communities, lands and cultures.