Native American students are just a tiny fraction of all the college students in the United States. They come with different histories, confronting an education system once used to erase their languages and cultures. In this project, four Indigenous college students tell how they are using higher education to strengthen ties to their Native roots and support their people.

Archie Yellow outside of Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Cloquet, Minnesota.

Sasha Aslanian | APM Reports

Nevaeh Nez in her traditional Hopi clothing in Med City’s newest addition, One Discovery Square, located in downtown Rochester, Minnesota.

Portrait by Jaida Grey Eagle for APM Reports

Reuben Kitto Stately with his graduation star quilt outside of his home in Shakopee, Minnesota.

Portrait by Jaida Grey Eagle for APM Reports

Hosts:

Archie Yellow: Archie is a member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and studies Ojibwe at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College.

Nevaeh Nez: Nevaeh is a Hopi and Navajo student at the University of Minnesota-Rochester, who’s planning to go to medical school.

Reuben Kitto Stately: Reuben is Dakota from the Santee Sioux Nation and a tribal member of Red Lake Nation. He majored in American Indian Studies at Augsburg University.

Producer: Sasha Aslanian. Editor: Stephen Smith

A production of AMP Reports.