Opened in September of 2017, the Native American Education Research and Cultural Center functions as a resource to Native American students to facilitate their success and optimize their college experience.
“The center is here to support future leaders to develop skills, in order to make a positive contribution to their own communities,” Wind River Indian Reservation Project Coordinator James Trosper said.
The center is located on the corner of 10th and Ivinson Street and is part of UW President Laurie Nichols’s plan to increase the number of Native American students enrolling and graduating from UW. This includes members of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes of the Wind River Indian Reservation.
The American Indian Studies (AIS) program and the High Plains American Indian Research Institute are working together to provide opportunities for the research and educational building for Native American students and their families.
The program is working to enrich all UW students’ education as they broaden their knowledge of indigenous people, their history and culture. The center honors Native American heritage and demonstrates respect for Native people’s cultures, particularly those of the Northern Plains; focusing on acknowledging traditions, history, laws and diverse expressions of sovereignty.
“It’s a place they can find their culture and meet other Native American students, faculty and staff, to have a sense of home and to get the support they need to become successful,” Nichols said.
The president has made frequent visits to the Wind River Indian Reservation. She has also established a Native American Advisory Committee to counsel her on the university’s relationship with native students and the reservation’s two tribes.
In June, the center hosted a program that brought native high school students from ninth to twelfth grade to campus for a weeklong preview of college life.
“The purpose of those events is to expose Native American high school students to the university and present what the university has to offer,” Trosper said.
“As a native American student, it was little bit harder to maneuver and adjust to the university lifestyle at the beginning,” Eric Bennett, intern of the center, said. “Now that the Native American center is open, I’m able to come here, work as an intern to help other students who are going through troubles and serve as a mentor.”
