TCJ Student has announced that Odo Ishkiin, a student at the Institute of American Indian Arts, has won this year’s cover art contest with his artwork titled “Sho-Ban Proud.” Melissa Trombley, who is enrolled at Blackfeet Community College, is the winner of the film contest with her film, “Reconnecting with Our Ways.”

Odo Ishkiin is a visionary artist who resides in Portland, Oregon, and attends IAIA as a full-time student. Ishkiin is an enrolled member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe with lineage from the Shoshone, Bannock, and Blackfeet tribes. Ishkiin infuses traditional symbols, textiles, and storytelling into modern streetwear and style, challenging conventions while honoring ancestral narratives. Whether through digital art, textiles, or mixed media, Ishkiin’s art serves as a dialogue between heritage and innovation, inviting audiences to explore the intersections of fashion, history, and self-expression. Ishkiin’s art will appear on the cover of the 2025 edition of TCJ Student, which will be included as an inset in Tribal College Journal’s fall edition.

“We had the privilege to view so many great artworks during the AIHEC student conference in Rapid City—it was difficult to select just one piece as the winner of our cover art contest,” said Bradley Shreve, Tribal College Journal’s editor. “Odo Ishkiin’s unique piece, Sho-Ban Proud, was a favorite of the entire AIHEC staff. It will make a great cover for this year’s student edition.”

Melissa Trombley, a self-taught Blackfeet artist and filmmaker from Browning, Montana, is a student at Blackfeet Community College. After moving back home, she began the ongoing journey of reconnecting with her culture, something that has been both emotionally powerful and spiritually grounding. That process inspired her documentary, “Reconnecting with Our Ways,” which highlights some Blackfeet practices like hide tanning, archery, buffalo processing, and explores the importance of cultural revitalization. Trombley shared, “My love for filmmaking started ages ago but resurfaced with a course at Blackfeet Community College, and I’ve been excited about storytelling ever since. I aim to keep creating films from the indigenous viewpoint in different genres, horror, comedy, documentary.”

As the best film, “Reconnecting with Our Ways” will be featured at tribalcollegejournal.org. Also, as part of the award, Trombley will premier her film at the Pocahontas Reframed Film Festival in Richmond, Virginia, this coming November.