2025 - #005: IN SUPPORT OF TRIBAL COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES TO UPHOLD TREATY AND TRUST RESPONSIBILITIES

WHEREAS, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) was established in 1970 for the purpose of advocating, planning, and promoting the unique and special educational needs of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians; and

WHEREAS, NIEA as the largest national Native organization of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian educators, administrators, parents, and students in the United States, provides a forum to discuss and act upon issues affecting the education of Indian and Native people; and

WHEREAS, through its unique relationship with Native Nations and Tribes, the federal government has established programs and resources to meet the educational needs of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians (Native), residing on and off their reserved or non-reserved homelands; and NIEA recognizes the importance of honoring the sovereignty of Tribal Governments and their inherent right to self-governance; and

WHEREAS, the United States government has entered into solemn treaties with Tribal Nations, treaties which are the supreme law of the land under Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, and which establish a federal trust responsibility to support the health, welfare, education, and self-determination of American Indian and Alaska Native peoples;

WHEREAS, Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) are institutions chartered by federally recognized Tribal Nations to provide culturally grounded, community-based higher education to Native and non-Native students alike, often in geographically isolated and economically underserved regions;

WHEREAS, TCUs are engines of opportunity, self-determination, workforce development, cultural revitalization, and nation-building for Tribal Nations, and have consistently demonstrated significant outcomes in student success, retention, and community transformation despite chronic underfunding;

WHEREAS, federal funding for TCUs remains inequitable when compared to funding provided to other public and land-grant institutions, undermining the government’s trust and treaty responsibilities and placing disproportionate burdens on institutions that already operate with limited resources;

WHEREAS, meeting the federal trust obligation requires sustained and robust investment in Tribal higher education, including but not limited to funding for institutional operations, student financial aid, infrastructure, faculty development, research, technology, land-grant support, and wraparound student services;

WHEREAS, failing to fully fund TCUs and/or allowing cuts to existing funding, the federal government perpetuates educational and economic disparities and fails to honor its moral and legal obligations to Tribal Nations.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) urges Congress and the federal government to fulfill their trust and treaty obligations by providing Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) with full and equitable federal funding at the highest levels and that such funding must be permanent, sustainable, and protected from sequestration and other threats, ensuring long-term stability and growth for TCUs as vital institutions of higher learning and sovereign expression.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that this resolution shall be the policy of NIEA until it is withdrawn or modified by subsequent resolution.