Editor’s note: This article has been edited and updated 11/23/20.

Empower your tribal community to grow their own food sustainably. Find your career calling as you celebrate three years of sobriety. Earn a tuition waiver to continue your education. Complete a semester while undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Teach your grandson his Native language. Feel connected to your culture for the first time. These accomplishments are no small feat. Yet, they are just a few examples of the success and strength of so many students at Nebraska Indian Community College (NICC). Through resiliency and grit, tribal college student achievement encompasses something much larger than standard institutional measurements of grade point average, enrollment headcount, and graduation rate. For tribal college students, success is as much about achievements made outside the classroom as within.

NICC, like many other tribal colleges, is redefining success through its students. How students view success differs immensely. Each individual has a different path, strengths, challenges, and goals for their future as well as that of their tribal community. NICC’s campuses are located in Macy on the Omaha reservation, Santee on the Santee Sioux reservation, and in South Sioux City, Nebraska. Serving the Umoⁿhoⁿ (Omaha), Isanti (Santee Dakota), and other learners, NICC shares stories highlighting students’ accomplishments that extend well beyond the classroom. Through cultural identity, community connection, and goals for future generations, NICC students holistically define what success is for themselves, their families, and their tribal communities.

“School can be so much more than just books—it can help one to figure out who they are,” says Nakomis Merrick, a freshman at NICC.

Nakomis Merrick (Umoⁿhoⁿ) is a freshman at NICC’s South Sioux City campus. “In the past, I thought of success as being able to complete the task quickly,” Merrick says, but adds, “No matter how long it might take, the completion of something is still an accomplishment.” Indeed, many successes are not strictly linear, but rather part of a life-long process. Merrick, who is interested in teaching Umoⁿhoⁿ or becoming a social worker, explains this new perspective since attending NICC: “As a graduated high school teen, I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going. . . . I lacked motivation. The classes at NICC eventually gave me purpose and helped me have a better understanding of who I am and where I come from. This made me want to continue [my] education at the college, because I’m finally getting the answers I’ve been searching for.”

Merrick, like many Indigenous students living off their tribal reservation, is finding connection between identity and culture through the classroom by taking courses such as Umoⁿhoⁿ language and Native American history. “Both classes have taught me that I’m able to take my learning outside of class, and both have been beneficial in helping me understand where I’m from,” says Merrick. When asked about what advice they had to give future students, they say, “Think about what they are missing in their lives. . . . School can be so much more than just books—it can help one to figure out who they are.” The coordination of self-discovery through cultural connection continued as they enrolled in Umoⁿhoⁿ language II this past summer.

“Success for me is . . . fighting your way out of the darkness to get to the light, and taking back your strength to make the impossible, possible again,” says NICC sophomore Donna Pike.

Donna Pike (Isanti) is a sophomore majoring in human services/counseling at NICC’s Santee campus. “Success for me is . . . fighting your way out of the darkness to get to the light, and taking back your strength to make the impossible, possible again,” she says. A straight-A student and full-time paraprofessional educator at Santee Community Schools, Pike did not always have such a determined path toward success. After a distracted first attempt at college, she struggled with drug addiction. “I was in and out of jail. I decided I couldn’t keep doing this. I was hurting myself and my family,” she says. Pike credits her loving upbringing and family support for her path to recovery. Prioritizing family, she is now the primary caregiver to her younger sister, a foster-parent to a four-year-old boy, as well as a stepparent to her fiancé’s two teenagers. “Once I got a little more stable, I decided to go back to school,” she explains.

In addition to family, one of Pike’s top priorities is education. “[NICC] is a family-oriented environment. I also get to learn my [Isanti] culture and [Dakota] language. That is something I can’t learn at any non-tribal college,” she says. “I love the staff and the teachers. NICC has given me my foundation to build upon.” Soon to celebrate four years of sobriety, Pike has big plans. “I want to be a psychologist [to] help people overcome difficult obstacles that they face in their lives,” she explains, adding, “I’m planning on getting my doctorate degree in psychology.” This past year, Pike participated in AIHEC’s Washington, DC legislative summit to share how vital tribal colleges are in helping students overcome barriers to see their own light.        

“NICC has afforded me the opportunity to utilize my hands-on past experiences while obtaining operational business tools through classroom work,” says NICC alumnus Anthony Warrior.

Anthony Warrior (Absentee Shawnee) is a man of many titles: NICC alumnus, chef, owner of the catering business called Warriors’ Palate, radio host, and student to name just a few. “I measured success as status and position,” he says. “As I step back and now expand my education, I reflect and can see . . . how success can be measured in leadership, culture, and employee satisfaction.” Warrior’s unconventional career path came from a variety of motivations. “I worked my way up the management ladder to the position of director without a degree. I was proud of my accomplishments,” he says, but goes on to add, “I was considered a liability by the investors as I didn’t have a business degree. . . . I was a new father, and my decision to return to the classroom was for the future of my family. I could have taken the next corporate chef job with a starting salary of $80,000 and [work over] 60 hours away from my new family, but with the support of my wife and family, I have been able to achieve my education goals.”

In 2019, Warrior earned an Associate of Arts degree in business administration with top marks as NICC’s valedictorian and as the college’s 2019 American Indian College Fund student-of-the-year. Warrior is currently working on his bachelor’s degree at Wayne State College with a full scholarship. Throughout his educational career, he has coordinated catering events with NICC, tribal organizations, community members, and beyond. “NICC has afforded me the opportunity to utilize my hands-on past experiences while obtaining operational business tools through classroom work,” he explains. “As a non-traditional student, the flexibility, affordability, smaller class size, and a ‘work at your own’ pace, has made [NICC] a total win-win.” In offering advice to other students continuing their education after attending a TCU, Warrior says, “Developing family and community support will be the driving force in achieving a successful future.”

“I know that if I want to change my community— the way they look at things, the way they eat, the future of my children—I’m going to give it everything I’ve got,” says NICC alumna Suzi French.

Suzi French (Umoⁿhoⁿ) is an NICC alumna and the community food associate for the Center of Rural Affairs, which works closely with the Umoⁿhoⁿ tribe on food sustainability. For French and many tribal college students, individual achievement is tied to community success. “I know that if I want to change my community—the way they look at things, the way they eat, the future of my children—I’m going to give it everything I’ve got,” she says. “Native people are farmers [we are the] caretakers of the land . . . I was driven that my people wanted to eat healthy. They are willing and able to grow their own foods.” French talks about the development of the gardening program, which has grown from 18 small gardens to 362 in a few short years. While she was teaching others to garden, French was also learning herself. “I went to NICC and I learned. I took entrepreneurship. My job is based not only on making food, but also growing it and knowing how to sell it,” she explains. “The natural way of life, how things are in nature—that’s something we’re taught as Natives. When you put it in science, it’s all related.”

French was also part of the Rough Riders project, bringing youth and elders together to promote cultural learning. From foraging for elderberries to interacting with horses to learning about their cultural and historical importance, the First Nations Development Institute grant brought generational and cultural connection. Constant learning is a priority for French, who is also a mom and foster mom of nine kids. She talks warmly about her children, from their journeys to college to their trips to the prairie. “Now my kids can identify almost any plant. My kids can identify probably 40 plants that grow in a prairie.”

French’s unwavering dedication to food sovereignty was also seen in the innovative ways she helped connect tribal members to gardening supplies when the reservation’s borders were closed due to COVID- 19. She placed hundreds of seed packets in posts along the highway. Not a packet remained on her next visit. “We can help others . . . see opportunity in themselves. We are going to turn our food desert into a food oasis,” French says with a smile and an ever-present willingness to lend a hand.

“Even if you don’t realize it, you’re a role model for the younger generations like your children, your grandchildren, and your great grandchildren,” says Ma The’, a Native American studies student at NICC’s Macy campus.

Ma The’, also known as Lani Moran-Samqua (Umoⁿhoⁿ / Rosebud Sioux), is NICC’s extension assistant and a Native American studies major at the college’s Macy campus. For Moran-Samqua, achievement stems beyond one’s footprint. “When my children are away from me and people compliment on how they behaved, how respectful they are, or [how they have] helped their elders, I truly consider that to be a success on my part, not only as a mother, but [also] as a teacher,” she says. Her devotion to her culture, language, and desire to leave a positive impact for the next generation can be seen in her son, NICC’s busy seven-year-old visitor, Wakonda. Moran-Samqua says the Umoⁿhoⁿ language “makes me feel connected to the earth,” adding, “I want to give my son these opportunities. I want him to understand and know where he comes from. I want him to know what it is to be Umoⁿhoⁿ. This includes the language, our spirituality in our traditional ways. With everything going on in the world today, I want our Umoⁿhoⁿ ways to ground him.”

Moran-Samqua has overcome many obstacles in her life, including the loss of her companion to a drunk driver, a stage three cancer diagnosis, and the death of her mother, Winona “Hawatay” Caramony, an Umoⁿhoⁿ language instructor at NICC and the college’s 2019 faculty member of the year. “How I dealt with these barriers had a lot to do with [the] teachings of my parents and my grandparents,” she says. “My mother always encouraged me to use prayer and to keep moving forward. We all come from long lines of survivors so now it’s time to start adapting, improvising, and making better lives for ourselves, our families, and our tribes.” Referencing those who came before her, aiding in her own success, Moran-Samqua shares, “Even if you don’t realize it, you’re a role model for the younger generations like your children, your grandchildren, and your great grandchildren. We are never too old to learn.”

“Our language is our culture. That’s where you get your worldview. That’s where you get your identity,” says Vanessa Hamilton, a staff member at NICC.

Vanessa Hamilton (Umoⁿhoⁿ) serves as NICC staff and is also a student in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Indigenous ROOTS Teacher Education Program. “My definition of success is to have raised a kind, caring, compassionate son. I think that [my son’s] father and I have achieved our goal. He’s a police officer for the Umoⁿhoⁿ Nation. He’s serving our people. That’s what I wanted, him to be a man to serve the people. That’s one of my successes,” she says.

Hamilton’s grandmother encouraged her to learn her Native language first and foremost. “I took language classes with Grandma Hawatay. She said, ‘We are the ones to pass it down.’ That lit a fire in me to learn the language,” Hamilton says, adding, “Our language is our culture. That’s where you get your worldview. That’s where you get your identity. Now I’ve made it my lifetime goal to become an Umoⁿhoⁿ language teacher.” As such, Hamilton will serve as a protector of her people’s language. “The first time I was taking Umoⁿhoⁿ, I remembered basic stuff like colors, numbers, [how to say] ‘tie your shoe,’ basic sentences. I taught these things to my son. Now I’m learning more and I’m trying to teach my grandson.”

NICC has also opened up opportunities for Hamilton outside the classroom including working in the archives, coordinating events such as language gatherings and hand games, presenting research at conferences, and traveling to the Berlin Museum for the exhibit, “Against the Current: Francis La Flesche and the Umoⁿhoⁿ,” featuring artifacts highlighting Umoⁿhoⁿ resistance against colonialism.

Hamilton says, “Explore tribal colleges because, number one, they’re family friendly no matter what stage of life you’re in . . . our instructors welcome kids in the class.” She recalls how her son was integrated into her college experience, not separate from it. “I remember going up to South Sioux City for marketing. I actually used my son as a helper. Everywhere I went, I took him with me so he could see what it was like being a student so he could do the same thing.” When asked about her goals, Hamilton says integrity and family are key component. “I just want to have a happy healthy family and know that they’re going to be proud of me. When they think of grandma, they are going to know that I tried to stand up for the things I believed in, that I tried to make the world a better place,” she said.

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Attend class a week after giving birth. Put down roots in the first place you’ve called home. Get your work published in Tribal College Journal. Enroll in college after being told you couldn’t get your GED. Run for tribal council. This list highlights just a few of the students’ and alumni’s silent successes at Nebraska Indian Community College. While NICC constantly strives to better understand students’ experience through graduation rates, course completion, and surveys, we also know first-hand the value of students owning their own story and their own successes. In the classroom and beyond, these successes are undeniably seen in NICC students’ motivations, goals, cultural identity, family involvement, and community connection. Every degree, every semester completed, every class passed, every engaged conversation is a success. These successes build upon one another. To sign up for class is to know your own power. To successfully complete a semester is to invest in your community. To earn your degree is to re-build nations.

Megan M. Miller is the research specialist and an instructor at Nebraska Indian Community College.