Little River Institute Indigenous Education Conference

In 2015, Montana State University-Northern's Extended University received a five-year, $1.9 million grant through the Native American Serving Nontribal Institutions (NASNTI) Program of the U.S. Department of Education. The grant is intended to improve the retention and completion rates of American Indian students in higher education. As part of this grant, the Little River Institute was created to serve as a center of tutoring, mentoring, and support for American Indian students at MSU-Northern, as well as a source of culturally responsive professional development for MSU-Northern faculty and staff.

MSU-Northern is proud to have hosted the First Annual Little River Institute Indigenous Education Conference. This was a chance for faculty, staff, and students from across Montana to come together for a conversation about the experiences, triumphs, and struggles of American Indian students in higher education.

April 28th marked the beginning of the First Annual Little River Institute Indigenous Education Conference, which continued through Saturday April 30th. The first day of the conference featured presenters and keynote speakers such as: Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction, Denise Juneau; President of Antioch University Seattle, Dr. Cassandra Manuelito-Kerkvliet; Mike Jetty of OPI; Cheryl and Manuel Morales of Aaniiih Nakoda College; Julie Brown, an MSU graduate student; and Greg Drummer of Aaniiih Nakoda College.

Other presentations on the following days included: Director of Indian Education, OPI, Mandy Smoker Broaddus; Dr. Pearl Yellowman; Allesandro Foursouls; Dr. Donna Miller of Aaniiih Nakoda College; Brad Hall an MSU doctoral student; Dan Kinsey of Aaniiih Nakoda College; Dr. Sue King; Angela McLean, Director of American Indian/Minority Achievement, OCHE

Another honored guest of the conference was Christian "Supaman" Takes the Gun Parrish. Christian Takes the Gun Parrish, aka "Supaman," is a dancer and hip hop artist who has dedicated his life to empowering youth and educating listeners with a message of hope through culture and music.