Title: “College pride, native pride” and education for native nation building
Description: This research examines the experiences of a group of Native (American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian) college freshmen, all of whom are alumni of a pre-college access program for Native students called College Horizons (CH). Using Lawrence-Lightfoot and Davis' method of Portraiture, I draw on data collected throughout the first year, from interviews, participant observation, Facebook and other social media data, and document analysis to describe and analyze how these Native students navigate their the freshman year, especially in relation to their varying and complex Native backgrounds. I ask: How do four CH alums balance and navigate their "college pride, Native pride" (the motto of CH)? And what, if any, issues do they face in creating a space where both can exist simultaneously? My research complicates and expands our understanding of Native students in higher education, by offering an intensive examination of these students negotiating their experiences within their college contexts. Expanding the framework of Native nation building put forth by Kalt and Cornell, I examine education as a capacity-building endeavor, specifically how the students view their responsibilities as tribal citizens to "give back" and build up their tribal nations, as well as the associated complications and costs with these expectations. The four students represent a diverse cross-section of Indian Country, two reservation students and two urban/suburban students, from four different tribes and communities, and attending college in varied settings. Themes that emerge include relationships with campus communities, relationships with "home," relationships with tribal communities; and the complications and personal costs of "giving back" to their communities through education.

This research offers a rare in-depth qualitative study, and examines millennial Native college students who are navigating spaces in a world of social media and technology. The small body of existing qualitative studies focuses on reservation-raised students, and are successful at beginning to illuminate why these Native students persist in college. This research moves beyond the simple why to examine how these students are making meaning of their college experiences in relation to their Native backgrounds.
Subjects: College preparation programs, Indians of North America, Education (Higher), Alaska Natives, Hawaiians, College Horizons
Places: United States