Spring Raines Colloquium – Dr. Tarajean Yazzie-Mintz

Tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) are places of indigenous learning and restorative practices for tribal nations across the U.S. TCUs are intellectual centers of their respective communities, contributing to place-based research with the purpose of addressing tribal communities’ most pressing issues in this presentation. Dr. Yazzie-Mintz will contextualize the tribal college movement within its historical roots and journey to revitalize tribal communities. The talk will center on examples such as the ways in which TCUs are engaged in early childhood community-based programming, growing their own teachers, and moving students from college to the profession to potential positions of leadership and systemic change. The process to imagine TCUs as places of indigenous learning and restorative practices is central for recognizing contributions to our collective work in higher education, across any institution serving American Indian and Alaska Native Students.

Dr. Tarajean Yazzie-Mintz, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, is Vice President for Program Initiatives at the American Indian College Fund (the College Fund). Since 2011. Dr. Yazzie-Mintz designed and directed the College Fund’s Tribal College and university (TCU) Early Childhood Education Initiatives. Her engagement with TCUs includes providing technical assistance in community-based participatory inquiry, documenting Native children and family outcomes, strengthening instructional practices, developing culture-based curricula and assessments, guiding culture-based curriculum standards alignment with state and national early learning guidelines, and providing support in achieving systems change and teacher education programming offered at higher education institutions.