To celebrate the magazine’s 25th anniversary, Tribal College Journal asked the tribal colleges and universities to nominate 25 alumni to be honored. Although some of these nominees have achieved great success or even national fame, the common denominator is service. All of them serve their people in one way or another.

For example, Larry Emerson, Ph.D., works with Indigenous education and health organizations across the continent. Dr. Esther Tailfeathers has been the only medical doctor serving several remote Native communities in Alberta, Canada, and she teaches other doctors about Native health issues. Charlene Teters is an internationally known artist and activist who devotes her life to teaching. One alumnus directs a tribal language immersion school. Another is the attorney general for her tribe. Others are poets, engineers, entrepreneurs, coaches, state legislators, and lawyers. Russ McDonald is a tribal chairman with a Ph.D.; David Yarlott, Ed.D., is a tribal college president, and both focus as much on their cultural credentials as their academic degrees. We heard of dozens of other notable alumni who also deserve accolades, but who could not be included.

While hundreds of students have graduated in the last 46 years since the first tribal college was established, most have not been tracked in official databases, which made compiling this article challenging. Nevertheless, their former instructors and administrators often keep track informally, and continue to provide support and encouragement.

Although we didn’t ask about obstacles in our brief survey, we heard of many. Carmelita Pallares perseveres despite a debilitating illness. Candace Sherwood never thought she would finish her bachelor’s degree since she was raising seven children. It took 24 years, but it paid off. Such achievements are all the more remarkable when we remember that many emerged from communities where unemployment rates are 50% or higher.

Many of these alumni were first-generation college students, and often their children and grandchildren have followed them into college. For Ernie Stevens Jr., tribal college education is a family tradition. He and his wife both attended Haskell Indian Nations University where they played on the basketball teams. All five of his children followed in their parents’ footsteps and obtained their college degrees from Haskell as student athletes. Two also have received degrees from United Tribes Technical College; two have master’s degrees; and a third is just finishing her master’s.

Years ago, Charlene Teters told TCJ about asking her Institute of American Indian Arts students to name contemporary heroes. Most could name people like Crazy Horse, Tecumseh, and Geronimo, but not modern people. As we see here, however, Indian people have plenty of modern heroes to emulate.

Ernie Stevens Jr., is the chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association in Washington, DC.

Ernie Stevens Jr. (Oneida)
Haskell Indian Nations University: Associate of Arts, 1983

For 14 years, Ernie Stevens Jr. has served as the elected chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association. In this position, he is the national spokesman for the Indian gaming industry and works with tribal leadership to build consensus on issues. His previous life prepared him well for this: after graduating from Haskell and earning a B.S. from Mount Senario College, he was elected councilman for the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin from 1993–1999, and he served as a vice president of the National Congress of American Indians, the oldest intertribal organization in the country.

Alfredo Zazueta (Tohono O’odham) Tohono O’odham Community College: Certificate as a Journeyman Electrical Wireman, 2008

Alfredo Zazueta was working as a custodian at the tribal college when his supervisor asked him if he wanted to take classes. He took electrician classes because of all the faulty electrical work around his community. Now he is a state-certified journeyman electrician at Kitt Peak National Observatory, where he sometimes is left in charge of facility maintenance for weeks at a time. The observatory is located on the reservation at an elevation of 6,875 feet. Zazueta credits the tribal college for pushing him to be the best he can be—not just for himself, but also for his family. He especially is grateful to his instructor, Joe Soto.

Abe Bitok (far left) has coached Diné College cross-country teams that won 10 national championships, including this 2006 team. Photo by Ed McCombs, Diné College

Abraham Bitok
Diné College: Associate of Arts in Business Administration, 1998

Originally from Kenya, Abraham Bitok came to Diné College as a student athlete. After leaving to earn his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Columbus State in Georgia, he returned to Diné, where he has taught, coached, and served as the athletic director and dean of academic administration. He is an internationally recognized leader in the world of sports. During his years as coach, the college men’s and women’s cross-country teams won 10 national championships, and the United States Collegiate Athletic Association named him Coach of the Year eight times. Bitok also established the college’s first women’s cross-country team. An article in USA Today in 2006 said, “He helps to make sure that every interested athlete gets a scholarship to a four-year college when they leave Diné College.”

Jim Polk (Blackfeet)
Blackfeet Community College: Associate of Science in Math and Science, 2005

Jim Polk’s love of math began in an eighth grade algebra class where for the first time, he felt challenged and not bored with school. After serving in the U.S. Air Force for six years, he enrolled in Blackfeet Community College (BCC) and graduated as class valedictorian. He transferred to the University of Montana where he also graduated with honors and received the President’s Medal and the Diversity Award. In 2010, he was awarded the Montana TRiO Achiever Award. He now teaches math at BCC. In addition to tutoring and mentoring math and science students of all ages, he serves as a football coach at the high school. In these ways, he tries to pay back the BCC support services staff for the help they provided.

Clarena Brockie is the dean of students at Aaniiih Nakoda College and a member of the Montana legislature.

Clarena M. Brockie (Aaniiih)
Haskell Indian Nations University: Certificate of Business in Technology, 1969

Raised on the Fort Belknap reservation in Montana with no running water, Clarena Brockie’s education from Haskell has carried her into executive positions with the Indian Health Service, the tribal education department, and Aaniiih Nakoda College, where she has served as the dean of students since 2000. Prior to that, the college asked her to manage construction of a public radio station, which is still running today. In 2011, she was elected as a Montana state legislator. Among her honors are being named an Outstanding Young Woman of America in 1980, Montana Indian Educator of the Year in 1988, and being appointed by several Montana governors to advisory boards. She has served on the Haskell Board of Regents since 1985. Through her long career she has not lost track of her tribal roots. Her master’s thesis at the University of Arizona was “Aaniiih Oral History: Stories of the Ways of Knowing and Beings of the Aaniiih Nin.”

Beverly Smith (Diné)
Haskell Indian Nations University: Bachelor of Arts in American Indian Studies, 2001

A Haskell alumnus, Bev Smith is the full-time assistant director of the Native American House at the University of Illinois, and a full-time doctoral student in Education, Policy, Organization, and Leadership in Higher Education. At Northern Arizona University, where she pursued her M.Ed. in counseling, she was recipient of the John W. Tippeconnic Memorial Scholarship, a Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation Wassaja Memorial Scholarship, and a member of Chi Sigma Iota.

Dr. David Yarlott Jr.’s Crow name is Baluxx Xiassash, or Outstanding Singer.

David E. Yarlott Jr. (Crow)
Little Big Horn College: Associate of Arts in Business Administration, 2006

Dr. David E. Yarlott Jr., whose Crow name is Baluxx Xiassash or Outstanding Singer, was born in Korea to a Korean mother and a Crow Indian father. He moved to the Crow reservation in Montana when he was four. Afluent speaker of the Crow language, he is a member of the Greasy Mouth Clan. Since 2002, he has been president of Little Big Horn College (LBHC). Prior to this, he worked in wildland fire suppression for 24 years and earned an Ed.D. from Montana State University. Yarlott went back to school at LBHC, graduating after he had completed his doctorate and became president. His honors include receiving the Montana State University Alumni Achievement Award in 2009, serving as chair of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium board of directors from 2008 to 2012, and being a National TRiO Achiever in 2008.

Shirley Gunhammer (Sicangu Lakota)
Sinte Gleska University: Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education, 1982 Sinte Gleska University: Master of Arts in Education, 1989

Shirley Gunhammer was a Head Start teacher who got her teaching degree at Sinte Gleska University (SGU) and then was in the first master’s degree cohort there. She went on to become a teacher and is still teaching at Rosebud Elementary. She has been recognized as a master teacher of math. After receiving a math specialist degree, she has taught math teachers from all over the country. Her husband, son, and granddaughter have all received degrees from SGU, and her other son is a graduate of the University of South Dakota. In addition, her younger sister, Cheryl Crazy Bull, is the president and CEO of the American Indian College Fund.

Sherwin Bitsui is a nationally renowned poet.

Sherwin Bitsui (Diné)
Institute of American Indian Arts: Associate of Arts in Creative Writing, 1999

Sherwin Bitsui is a nationally renowned poet whose work “draws on the landscape of the Southwest and on Native ritual and myth,” according to Arthur Sze, his former instructor at Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). Back when he was a student, his art graced the cover of TCJ (Vol. 10, No. 4). Now he shares his talent with emerging writers, teaching in IAIA master’s program and as a visiting writer at the University of Montana and the University of Wyoming. His honors include a 2011 Lannan Foundation Literary Fellowship and a 2011 Native Arts and Culture Foundation Arts Fellowship. He is also the recipient of 2010 PEN Open Book Award, an American Book Award, and a Whiting Writers Award. He is the author of Shapeshift (University of Arizona Press, 2003) and Flood Song (Copper Canyon Press, 2009).

Daniel Davis (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe)
Turtle Mountain Community College: Associate of Science, 1994

Since graduating and earning certification as a professional engineer in North Dakota, Daniel Davis has worked for private engineering companies and for the U.S. Indian Health Service (IHS) in several Midwestern states. More recently, he has served as the director of facilities management for the IHS Great Plains Area. He oversees project planning and routine maintenance activities for one million square feet of healthcare facilities and staff quarters that house over 600 people. In addition to supervising eight engineers, he works closely with tribal leaders.

Tatuye Topa Najin Win Means, J.D., is the attorney general for the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.

Tatuye Topa Najin Win Means (Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota/Oglala Lakota)
Oglala Lakota College: Master of Arts in Lakota Leadership and Management, 2012

Tatuye Topa Najin Win Means, whose name means “Wind Woman” in Lakota, received her associate’s degree from Oglala Lakota College while attending high school and then returned years later (after a law degree from the University of Minnesota) to earn her master’s degree in the college’s Lakota leadership program. Two years later, she was appointed attorney general for the Oglala Sioux Tribe. In that position, she works collaboratively with other entities to establish a unified body of tribal law that protects individual rights and property. The attorney general has broad duties in judicial and executive branches of government for the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. While earning her law degree, she was a student attorney for the Indian Child Welfare Act Clinic and its director. She received the University of Minnesota Human Rights Law Award in 2010. She also holds a B.S. in environment engineering from Stanford University and was admitted to the State Bar of South Dakota.

Candace Sherwood (Yanktonai Dakota)
Sitting Bull College in cooperation with Sinte Gleska University: Bachelor of Science with a double major in General Education and Special Education, 1995

Candace Sherwood raised seven children and worked full-time while she was working on her bachelor’s degree—it took her 24 years. She went on to earn a master’s degree from the University of Mary, teach special education in several reservation schools, and serve as director of special education at two reservation schools. She is now a teacher at Standing Rock Middle School on the Standing Rock reservation.

Leslie Harper (center) directs the Niigaane Ojibwemowin Immersion School. Photo courtesy of Leech Lake Tribal College

Leslie Harper (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe)
Leech Lake Tribal College: Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts, 2004

Leslie Harper earned her A.A. degree from Leech Lake Tribal College before going on to the Native American Educational Services College in Chicago for her B.A. in public policy. She is a founder and the director of Niigaane Ojibwemowin Immersion School, the K–6 Ojibwe language immersion school on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation. The school was featured in the public television documentary, First Speakers: Restoring the Ojibwe Language, which won a Midwest Regional Emmy Award. Harper was honored in 2012 as the Minnesota Indian Education Administrator of the Year.

Carmelita Pallares is a preschool teacher and a mom.

Carmelita Pallares (Diné/Santo Domingo Pueblo)
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute: Associate of Arts in Early Childhood Education, 2008

Despite facing tremendous personal challenges, Pallares was an excellent student at Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute and later at the University of New Mexico, where she earned a 3.8 GPA. Susan Smith, her supervisor at the preschool where she now works, says, “She is a committed teacher, always enriching the classroom with cultural experiences that enhance the learning for children. She maintains a professional atmosphere and addresses the learning styles of individual children with grace and understanding.” Pallares wrote about her battle with a debilitating muscle disease (myasthenia gravis) in Quest Magazine Online, which focuses on muscle diseases.

Marguerite Cortez (Umonhon/Ho-Chunk)
Nebraska Indian Community College: Associate of Arts in Early Childhood Education, 2004

Recognizing a born teacher, Marguerite Cortez’s mother literally signed her up at Nebraska Indian Community College. Cortez also credits her fellow students and instructors for helping to fulfill her dream since they helped with her two children when she took them to class. She was valedictorian of her class. While working on her bachelor’s degree, she went to Greece with her fellow education students and student taught there for two weeks. The Greeks were fascinated with having a “real Indian” teach them math. Determined to teach at a reservation school, she finished her master’s degree at Wayne State University and is now a second grade teacher at the Omaha Nation School, where she also serves as president of the teachers’ union. She promised her mother that she will go back and get a doctorate degree someday.

Charlene Teters has been called the Rosa Parks of American Indians. Photo copyright by Jennifer Esperanza

Charlene Teters (Spokane)
Institute of American Indian Arts: Associate of Fine Arts, 1986

Charlene Teters has fought against the use of demeaning Indian mascots and stereotypes. She exhibits internationally, creating multimedia installations that examine the social presumptions and portrayals of Indian people in pop culture and the media. Her recent work is included in a traveling exhibition to Siberia. She is a former endowed chair of interdisciplinary applied knowledge at California State Polytechnic University. She has lectured at universities and other venues across the country. Among her many honors was being profiled in the PBS documentary, In Whose Honor?, which called her the Rosa Parks of American Indians. She has also been profiled on ABC by Peter Jennings. She now serves as an associate professor in studio arts at IAIA, where she has taught since 1997.

Troy Munhofen (Ihánkthunwan Dakota)
Nebraska Indian Community College: Associate of Arts in Natural Resources and in Business Administration, 2010

After many years working as a waiter, bartender, and clerk, Troy Munhofen enrolled at Nebraska Indian Community College (NICC) and earned two associate’s degrees. A top student there, he was selected to receive a NASA Space Grant and a Coca-Cola First General Scholarship. He then went on to earn his bachelor’s degree while also working full-time at NICC as a student services advisor. He is now working on his master’s degree from the University of South Dakota.

April Phillip has pursued a career in health care so that she can help forge healthy communities in rural Alaska.

April Phillip (Yupik/Iñupiaq/Tlingit)
Ilisagvik College: Associate of Science in Allied Health, 2013

In the summer of 2013, April Phillip took a position as a health intern with the North Slope Borough Health Department. She is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in nursing at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, and hopes to continue interning during her visits home. While at Ilisagvik College, she was an advocate for her fellow students, including serving as president of the student government. “Her passion for supporting healthy communities in rural Alaska is evident in everything that she does,” says Ilisagvik President Pearl Brower.

Linda Hansen (Assiniboine)
Fort Peck Community College: Associate of Arts in General Studies, 1988

Linda Hansen has worked with students at Fort Peck Community College in various capacities since 1989, serving as the college registrar for the past eight years. Asked about her accomplishments, Hansen lists her children, her master’s degree (she was a first-generation student), and her students, who have gone on to become small business owners, teachers, nurses, radiology technicians, oil company executives, and tribal council representatives.

Chauncey Means found his calling in environmental studies.

Chauncey Means (Northern Cheyenne)
Chief Dull Knife College: Associate of Arts in General Studies, 2006

After a discouraging start in higher education at a mainstream institution, Chauncey Means found his inspiration as a student at Chief Dull Knife College, where he was selected as student of the year for 2005–2006. His tribal college experience carried him onward through his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and into his profession in environmental protection. He is now a program manager for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana. His master’s thesis was entitled, “Evaluating and Remediating Metals and Arsenic in Surface Waters of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.”

Jamie Henio (Diné)
Navajo Technical University: Associate of Applied Science in Law Advocacy, 2011

Jamie Henio decided to go back to school at the age of 43 to fulfill his dream of practicing law in the Navajo Nation courts. While at Navajo Technical University (NTU), he won a national medal in Skills USA in the prepared speech competition and was named student of the year. He passed the Navajo Nation Bar exam on his first try, making him the first graduate of NTU’s law advocate program to do so. After graduating, he worked as a district prosecutor for the tribe. Now he is a policy analyst for the Navajo Nation Government Development Office, which works to make the tribal government stronger.

Dr. Larry Emerson (far left) is a mentor for the Native American Scholars and Collaborators Project at San Diego State University. Photo courtesy of San Diego State University.

Larry Emerson (Diné)
Diné College

Larry Emerson is Tsenahabilnii, born for Toaheidliinii. His doctoral dissertation at Claremont Graduate University was entitled, “Hozhonahazdii’: Towards a Practice of Diné Decolonization.” Self-employed, he works in the wellness, education, and mental health fields. He is vice president of the Navajo Studies Conference board and does supportive work for the Navajo Nation Peacemakers in Window Rock, the Navajo Regional Behavioral Health Center in Shiprock, the Indian Education Department, Farmington Municipal Schools, and the Indigenous Scholar Development Center at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He also facilitates seminars with the Native American Scholars and Collaborators Program at San Diego State University and recently taught at the University of Victoria’s Aboriginal Community Counseling Masters of Education Program. Looking back, Emerson says, “I was in a survival mode, meaning I just needed to know relevant and meaningful things about being Diné, Native American; knowing our language, politics, traditional knowledge; being a person of color and so on. Diné College saved me in many ways.”

Russ McDonald, Ph.D., tries to integrate Dakota values and spirituality into his daily life.

Leander (Russ) McDonald (Dakota/Arikara)
Cankdeska Cikana Community College: Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts, 1993

Leander (Russ) McDonald, Ph.D., was elected in 2013 to serve as the chairman of the Spirit Lake Nation in northeastern North Dakota. Prior to that, he served as vice president of academic affairs at Cankdeska Cikana Community College (CCCC) and earlier as an assistant professor at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Science. He says the tribal college helped him build a foundation for future education, leave his life of partying behind, and connect with his Dakota culture. “I didn’t know I even had a culture until I took a sociology class at CCCC,” he recalls. Now he tries to integrate Dakota values and spirituality into his daily life. “Any success I have I give to the Creator, as his guidance has brought me to where I am today.”

Jeremy Laducer (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe)
United Tribes Technical College: Associate of Applied Science in Small Business Management, 1998

In 2013, Jeremy Laducer started his own insurance company on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation. He says his Indian-owned insurance company may be unique in North Dakota and perhaps the region, noting, “There is not much private business here, mostly government jobs, so there is lots of untapped potential.” Prior to that, he had a variety of positions, including transportation planning director for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, an adjunct instructor at the University of Mary, and project manager for the Northwest Area Foundation. He and his wife have four children, and he is involved in community service, including serving on the local school board.

Dr. Esther Tailfeathers is the family physician for two reserve communities in Alberta.

Esther Tailfeathers (Kainai-Blackfoot)
Red Crow Community College

Esther Tailfeathers, M.D., served on the Blood Tribe Council that created Red Crow Community College on the Blood Reserve in Alberta, Canada. When she decided to go to medical school at the University of North Dakota, the tribe’s Post-Secondary Student Support Program (administered by Red Crow) sponsored her studies. Now she is the family physician for two reserve communities in Alberta—Fort Chipewyan and Standoff. A Canadian government web magazine, Cancerviewdigest, recently featured a video of her providing practical advice for physicians working with people in rural and northern communities. She is most proud of organizing a relief mission to Haiti after the earthquake with a team of Blood Tribe paramedics, nurses, and healthcare workers.

Marjane Ambler was editor of Tribal College Journal from 1995–2006.