UND, North Dakota Tribal College System receive $1 million to enhance humanities and Indigenous studies

Jan. 26—GRAND FORKS — The Mellon Foundation has awarded $1 million to UND and the North Dakota Tribal College System in an effort to help enhance the humanities, particularly preserving Indigenous languages and cultural knowledge. It is the first time the Mellon Foundation has selected UND and NDTCS for funding to advance the humanities and Indigenous studies.

The three-year award will go toward training faculty, staff and students in digital humanities, archival skills, cultural resource management and more, according to a release from UND. UND-NDTCS will also design hybrid for-credit courses as part of a new UND Indigenous Digital Humanities and Archival Methods certificate.

Twyla Baker, chair of the NDTCS and president of Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College in New Town, North Dakota, said the reclamation of Indigenous languages and sustaining of tribal lifeways has always been at the heart of the work of tribal colleges in North Dakota.

"We are so pleased to be a part of such a crucial project that allows us to work with UND in accessing training and tools with those goals in mind," Baker said in a statement. "By combining our rich histories with better access to technology and expertise, we are preserving our stories for future generations and making them more accessible for Native people living away from their tribal homelands, as well as for broader audiences."

UND President Andrew Armacost hopes the collaboration with the tribal college system will result in a strong foundation that will continue to grow for years to come, the release said.

"We are grateful for the opportunity to expand access to the study of the humanities — literature, languages, history, among other fields — to enable all of us to better understand and appreciate our differences while recognizing the commonalities that we share," Armacost said.

Grant activities will be held at UND and across all five NDTCS colleges: Cankdeska Cikana Community College, Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College, Sitting Bull College, Turtle Mountain Community College and United Tribes Technical College. Faculty, staff and students will travel between the collaborating campuses, said Crystal Alberts, professor of English at UND.

Alberts will serve in an advisement role at each of the tribal colleges for the duration of the grant. Faculty, staff and students involved in grant activities will also attend an intensive one-week summer program at UND.

"The team here at UND is very excited, and humbled, to start work on this project in collaboration with the North Dakota Tribal College System," Alberts said in a statement. "Through this partnership, we will exchange knowledge and ideas so that we can build programs, curricula and other opportunities to help communities expand their capacity to preserve their cultural lifeways, while always honoring tribal and data sovereignty."

Alberts is part of a working group along with Dan Henry, director of UND's Indians into Medicine program; Keith Malaterre, director of UND's Indigenous Student Center; Laine Lyons, development officer at UND Alumni Association and Foundation; and Baker as a representative of the NDTCS.