Findings from the 2020 Tribal Nation Building in Higher Education Convening

In 2020, a three-day Tribal Nation Building in Higher Education Convening was held at the University of Idaho. This gathering brought together Indigenous professors, administrators, and allied collaborators to engage in deep discussion of nation-building as a framework for supporting Indigenous nationhood in higher education. This white paper details the findings of the dialogue drawing on a qualitative survey, over eighteen hours of discussion-based audio conversation between participants, and artifacts created by participants during the convening. The participating nation builders centered their engagements in Tribal Nation building in higher education around four salient concepts: decolonization, sovereignty, importance of place, and context specificity. Speaking from this foundational worldview, convening findings underscored collective struggles and successes in Tribal nation building efforts with and through institutions of higher education. We outline the struggles as emerging from six distinct but connected barriers to Tribal nation building: Bureaucratic obstruction; Gatekeeping; Leadership instability; Institutional isolation; Limited Indigenous faculty; Insufficient investment and prioritization. While consistent across contexts, barriers manifest differently determined by local context. Details about successes in Tribal nation building in higher education provided evidence to identify seven principles, or pillars, for higher educational systems that directly attends to the health and wellbeing of Tribal Nations and Native peoples: Representation, Community Building, Tribal Nation Involvement, Collaboration, Committed Leadership, Student Involvement, and Sustainability. We conclude this report with the seven principles as tangible structures to build strong university-Tribal relationships toward investing in thriving Tribal nations and changing the conditions of higher education for Native peoples.