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. He said they're looking forward to the groundbreaking for a major new science building in the next several weeks.

"We got a $1.2 million NSF [National Science Foundation] grant two years back, and that's how we started the chemistry and the biology program," he said, "and that is now leading to the construction of a $6 million, 12,000-square-foot, brand new state-of-the-art building."

Little Priest offers an associate of arts degree in three areas, an associate of applied science in two - including diversified ag and cannabis studies - and an associate of science in five. It also offers a certificate program in certified nursing assistant. Tuition has been free since the summer of 2020. The college is part of the Nebraska Transfer Initiative, and also has transfer agreements with private Nebraska colleges and universities.

Patil said HoChunk language and cultural preservation is a major focus at Little Priest, and admits keeping the HoChunk language alive presents challenges.

"Of course it's hard to find language instructors, because the elders are passing away who had the knowledge, so we are struggling," he said. "But we are actually submitting a grant tomorrow to create a regional center to preserve the Native American languages - especially HoChunk."

Caden Cleveland graduated from Little Priest Tribal College with honors and as valedictorian in 2021. He has since earned a bachelor's degree at Wayne State College, where his coursework was free because of the agreement between the colleges. Cleveland said the diversity at Little Priest helped prepare him for what he found at Wayne State.

"You've got kids from all over the country at Wayne State," he said, "and with help from the staff at Little Priest Tribal College, that kind of just made me understand where they're coming from, too."

The first president of Little Priest Tribal College, Ann Marie Bledsoe Downes, is currently the deputy solicitor for Indian affairs with the Biden-Harris administration.

A great way to observe National Native American Heritage Month is to support Native artists but some in Wyoming said there are barriers to their exposure and success.

Some new programs and exhibits support Native art in the region, including a Native Arts Fellowship from the Wyoming Arts Council and a permanent space in Boulder, Colorado's Dairy Arts Center dedicated to Native arts, called the Creative Nations Sacred Space.

Bruce Cook, a Native American artist based on the Wind River Reservation, is a fellow this year and was awarded a startup challenge grant from the Wyoming Innovation Partnership to help emerging Native artists become established creative professionals.

"We just closed the Homeland Show for the welcoming back of the Arapaho and the Cheyenne to their homelands," Cook noted. "We're going to continue on that theme with bringing emerging artists from the reservation down there to get them a show and professional development."

Cook is a celebrated wood carving artist in the Haida tradition and has been expanding his ledger-painting work in the Arapaho tradition. His work will be on display at Scarlow's Art and Coffee in Casper through the end of the month.

Cook pointed out there is not a lot of opportunity for Native artists in the area. Business was easier in Seattle, he said, where he was represented by a gallery. In Wyoming, the road for Native art to be accepted, recognized and funded has been more difficult.

"There's a lot of sales of beadwork within the reservation," Cook acknowledged. "But it's not really being seen outside the reservation. As far as the arts scene in Wyoming, it's pretty nonexistent."

With fellow artist Robert Martinez, Cook cofounded the Northern Arapaho Artists Society and this was the second year they ran a Native arts market in Jackson. He reminded supporters of arts in the West that Native artists are "alive and well, creating art."


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President Joe Biden's recent apology on behalf of the federal government for harms done to generations of Native American children and their families in boarding schools was long overdue, according to Cheryl Crazy Bull, president and CEO of the Denver-based American Indian College Fund.

And she said the apology is also a good start toward reconciliation.

"I feel like when you acknowledge something, you take a step toward healing that," said Crazy Bull. "You can't really have reconciliation unless people acknowledge that harm was done."

The U.S. Government removed Native children from their homes and families by force, and placed them in boarding schools where connections to their culture and language were severed.

Children were routinely beaten for not speaking English, and many were killed.

Until now, the program which operated between 1819 until 1969, was justified by U.S. officials as a necessary evil in order to achieve Manifest Destiny.

Crazy Bull said Native people believe that destiny is laid out by the Creator, not people.

She noted the Tribal College movement is in part an effort to take back control of education, and allow members to learn through a Native lens.

"If Manifest Destiny says that somebody else gets to dictate the path that you take," said Crazy Bull, "Tribally Controlled means that you get to dictate that path as a tribal person."

A bill making its way through the U.S. House would create a truth and healing commission, similar to efforts in South Africa in the aftermath of Apartheid.

Crazy Bull said native communities are still struggling - not only with inter-generational trauma - but also a lack of adequate housing, jobs, health care, and education opportunities.

"I feel like there needs to be a significant investment for the reparative work that needs to be done," said Crazy Bull, "in order for Native people to be healed of the harms."



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This week, more than 100 Californians are in Cali, Columbia, for the 16th United Nations Conference on Biological Diversity.

Tribes, policymakers and conservation groups are promoting national monument status for three sites in the Golden State.

Lena Ortega, a Kw'tsán cultural committee member for the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, wants federal protection for the proposed Kw'tsán National Monument in Imperial County.

"The movement to save the environment isn't a choice for us," Ortega explained. "It's a matter of survival and our past healings are intertwined with that of Mother Earth. We are the land. The land is us."

California has already lost more than 20% of its native species and more than 600 species are considered threatened with extinction.

Asm. Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, said California is working hard to achieve the goal to protect 30% of state and federal land and waters by the year 2030.

"California is home to more native plants, animals, and more invasive species, than any other state," Haney pointed out.

Brandy McDaniels, Sáttítla National Monument Campaign lead for the Pit River Tribe, said time is running out for the administration to declare the Sáttítla National Monument in northeastern California.

"With less than three months left in President Biden's term, now is the time for the president to use his authority by designating Sattitla as a national monument for all future generations," McDaniels urged.

Tribes are also calling for a new Chuckwalla National Monument in Southern California near Joshua Tree National Park.


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