Indigenous Knowledge and Voice in American Higher Education

In her presentation Shelly Lowe discusses the themes of her first book, Beyond the Asterisk: Understanding Native Students in Higher Education.

Despite the increase in the number of Native Americans attending post-secondary institutions (NCES 2005) and that more Native Americans are attending four-year rather than two-year institutions (DeVoe & Darling-Churchill, 2008), the resources available to inform higher education and student affairs practitioners about this population has not kept pace. There is a demand for this information.

The Jossey-Bass 2009 monograph, Serving Native American Students: New Directions for Student Services, went into a second printing, and our first book, Beyond the Asterisk: Understanding Native Students in Higher Education, has been selling well, and at every book talk we are asked for more information, for more details, and “what’s next”?

In addition, the NDSS monograph and Beyond the Asterisk opened the door and introduced for the first time the Native voice in Native student services.  Our next book, Blowing Open the College Access Pipeline, looks at college access programs from grade school through the doctorate for Native students in order to directly address the myth and stereotype that Native students don’t participate in higher education. 

This presentation provides an overview of the need for Native knowledge and voices in student affairs and presents information on the multiple steps and years of work required to bring these voices together and achieve these three publications.