RED LAKE — As funding streams from the federal government are disrupted, local tribal colleges are reeling with how to move forward and still serve their students.
Unlike other kinds of public institutions of higher learning, tribal colleges often don’t receive state subsidies for educating students.
Instead, they rely on a patchwork of federal funding sources, namely from the Bureau of Indian Education under the purview of the Interior, and the U.S. Department of Education — one of the many institutions in the crosshairs for reform or dismantlement by the current administration.
With compacts that work to serve disadvantaged students, like those living on and around reservations in rural and high poverty areas, Red Lake Nation College President and one of Red Lake’s hereditary chiefs, Dan King, said the uncertainty of accessing grant funds is causing a lot of chaos and confusion.
“It's already having a major and devastating impact in Indian Country,” he said. King discussed the challenges the institution faces during an interview on campus Feb. 28. The Red Lake Nation College implemented a hiring freeze as federal funding remains in flux.
King said that despite the government-to-government relationship between tribes and the United States, funding directed to serving American Indians is being inappropriately categorized as diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, priorities.
Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order putting an end to “illegal” DEI by directing the Office of Management and Budget to review contracts that referenced DEI or affirmative action.
"We're not like Black, Hispanic, Asian or any DEI group,” King said. “We have a legal relationship through that trust responsibility coming from the treaties and even acts of Congress.”
“It really is illegal for our funds to be cut like this," King continued. " ... We [will] take them to court when it has to come to that. But really, it’s just educating the members of Congress who aren't even aware of this.”
King’s ancestor is prominently displayed on the walls of the Red Lake Nation College Library. Chief Medweganoonind, or “He Who is Heard,” was one of the seven chiefs who brokered the 1889 agreement between the Red Lake Nation and the U.S. government. Between the Old Crossing Treaty of 1863 and the 1889 agreement, the Ojibwe people of Red Lake ceded millions of acres of territory as Minnesota was just becoming a state.
“We still have a million [acres] left, but we gave up 11 million,” King said. “In doing that, the promise was you'll have the education, the health care, the quality of life. So it's not like we're being given anything for free. We gave up a lot for that.”
Leech Lake Tribal College President Helen Montgomery said she has spent much of her time in talks about the current funding situation since the executive orders were signed.
"Probably like 12 to 14 hours [on Jan. 28], just being on the phone, being in meetings, texting, calling,” she said. “ ... For 24 hours it felt like I was on, just trying to figure out what's happening.”
Already, she said a large USDA grant has been quashed with federal agencies seemingly given a directive not to share information with grant recipients.
"Not only are we looking at losing some of these USDA funds, but we're looking at some of our more stable funding [also] being in jeopardy,” Montgomery said, "something that we have been guaranteed and promised by Congress.”
The Leech Lake Tribal College had already given scholarships to students associated with the grant, Montgomery said, and is quickly pivoting to be able honor them. Fears about more threats to funding could lead to the college needing to make difficult decisions about staffing and course offerings.
“Some of the funding that's especially directed towards DEI initiatives, environment initiatives, some of the practices that connect more agriculture and food production with more traditional practices — tribal colleges are at the heart of those initiatives,” Montgomery explained. “That funding seems to be really unstable in jeopardy and subject to these executive orders.”
King said he and other members of his team have been working to build partnerships with businesses, nonprofits and state lawmakers. He added that after five years of lobbying, the state now directs some higher education funding to tribal colleges, who serve students regardless of tribal affiliation or enrollment.
“I feel like currently the federal government is not recognizing our special political status in the higher education landscape.”Helen Montgomery, Leech Lake Tribal College President
"We were just at the state Capitol and the Republican leaders of that committee said that that's probably the best return on investment for what they pay the tribal colleges and what they get back,” King said. “So, I think the Republicans are some of our best supporters once they see what we're doing in our performance results.”
‘Such unique institutions’
Many tribal colleges began establishing in the 1960s and ‘70s. It was a time when American Indian activists clashed with politicians, police and the press to right historical injustices and promote tribal self-determination, challenging the federal policy of termination in place at the time. That policy was billed as “complete integration” of American Indians to mainstream culture.
“The scariest part of this [the current federal funding cuts] is that tribal colleges are such unique institutions in terms of how we were created, why we were created, why we're here, what our missions are,” Montgomery said. “I feel like currently the federal government is not recognizing our special political status in the higher education landscape.”
Congress passed the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act in 1978, which was lobbied for by the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. At that time, the act was supposed to award $4,000 per tribally enrolled student to tribal colleges and universities.
Tribal colleges across the country, including Leech Lake and Red Lake, are members of this consortium and participated at the AIHEC Student Conference in Sioux Falls in March. Leech Lake Tribal College got its start through tribal resolution in 1990 while Red Lake Nation College began serving students in the 2010s.
King said the tribal college education model is like a cherished recipe, taking a holistic approach that combines cultural teachings with western education.
“We have a special sauce that we've developed over the last 15 years,” King said. “What we do better than a lot of the mainstream schools at educating Natives in higher education is small classes, one-on-one attention.”
King added the average class size is between 15-20 students, and 80% of their students are first-generation college students.
“So they don't have an uncle or a brother or a parent that they can just go, ‘Hey, how do you get through this chemistry class, how's this financial aid work?’” King said.
King said up to 70% of the staff at Red Lake Nation College are Native.
“It might be the first time they've seen a Native person as a teacher or a counselor, or a college president, in their life,” King said. "That's really impactful.”
The school also offers tutoring, mental health counseling, a food shelf, an emergency fund and a tech backpack — which offers a laptop with an Internet hotspot to complete schoolwork remotely.
Tribal colleges are often crucial community cornerstones in rural settings. Red Lake Nation College was the first in the country to open a metropolitan campus across the street from the new U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
In the ‘40s and ‘50s, Congress passed laws that incentivized moving American Indians off reservations into cities, leading to many American Indian communities in urban centers.
King said there are around 50,000 Natives living in the Twin Cities metro, and nearly half of the Red Lake Band’s 18,000 members live off-reservation.
“We have a lot of members who said, ‘Well, we would love to have a tribal college down here,’” King said. “So that was a long time coming.”
Montgomery shared that Leech Lake Tribal College’s education model also strives to connect Anishinaabe, or Ojibwe, culture into the classroom, with some students previously unaware of that aspect of themselves.
"It's that connection to our values that compels us to train and produce students who are both educated in this more traditional western Oxford model education, but also are infused with their culture, their lifeway,” Montgomery said. “They’re brought closer to their cultural identity — that's an integral part of making a whole human.”
King said investing in people through tribal colleges can add Native perspective to the workforce after getting their start at a tribal college.
"We're really a big success story because we're transforming our tribal nation through higher education, because that's one thing we need to do,” King said. “We need more business managers, we need more doctors, lawyers, teachers, counselors, just about any area you can think of.”
Looking ahead, Montgomery remains hopeful that the tribal college will continue to be able to provide affordable, quality education — which currently is about $162 a credit with students able to have their credit dollars reimbursed.
“Losing some of this funding just makes our job more difficult, makes things more challenging. Are we going to continue to do what we do? Absolutely,” Montgomery said.
“We will continue to find a way to do what we're doing to give our students the education they need, to give our students the cultural life, ways and teaching and identity that they need to keep thriving.”
