Throughout the challenges and growth, Billy says the most incredible aspect of the tribal college movement has been the constant commitment to sustaining tribal culture, language and community.
“Tribal colleges have never lost sight of this mission,” she states.
Although there is a great deal of diversity in tribal culture and traditions, valuing traditional spirituality and culture is central to the philosophy of the tribal college movement. Specifically, the movement seeks to provide an education to native peoples from a native perspective, according to Diné’s Clark, who is working on a scholarly history of the tribal college movement.
The power of native spirituality comes as no surprise to him. Clark says that Navajo medicine men were deeply involved in the behind-the-scenes work and planning that went into establishing Diné College, conducting lengthy ceremonies for the school’s
success.
Says Billy: “The tribal college movement began with prayer and ceremonies; forty years later, one can still hear those prayers singing in colleges today.”
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