At the University of Oregon, many students are hyper focused on finishing their studies. A wonderful thing that is happening however is how these students are in turn getting more rights. This all being because their heritage as members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is being recognized. There are items that reflect heritage and past alike adorning their rooms at Kalapuya Ilihi residence hall that allows them to stay connected to their roots in Eastern Oregon. This is significant, being that there are even books about Indigenous iconography all over their rooms.

It makes sense to want to stay connected to your roots. With a declining interest in maintaining outdated racist ideals, this new wave of thinking differently actually could potentially make a positive mark on the overall generation of tomorrow’s Native American population!

Landmark events are happening for tomorrow’s leaders!

There are plenty of lucky recipients at University of Oregon and beyond. All for the Oregon Tribal Student Grant! That’s the grant that covers huge costs like tuition and books for Oregon kids already enrolled in one of Oregon’s nine federally-recognized Native American tribes.

The remaining four universities in Oregon also talked about in-state tuition rates for Native American students, after many application and enrollment deadlines had passed. Within that clear example, it’s not certain how new policies can affect enrollment in regards to out-of-state Native American students. However, plenty of the universities talk about how the program is drawing attention in all the right places.

For instance, there are institutions like Southern Oregon University that talk about their tremendous  outreach. They must’ve talked to some 70 existing students identifying as Native Americans, just to let them know about in-state rates while humoring them in asking if they qualify.

The University themselves allow for three new and incoming students already qualified for in-state tuition to have more equal in-house tuition. As they are coming in for incoming qualified students to enroll.