ST PAUL, Minn. — A college fair geared to Minnesota's Indigenous population drew hundreds of students to the Minnesota History Center Monday.
All of the colleges and universities that set up tables at the Native American College Fair represented campuses that also have support services specifically geared toward Indigenous students, such as American Indian centers.
"It feels great. I've talked to a lot of colleges I've been looking at and they've given me a lot of good advice and they've talked to me about financial aid and my options especially as a first-generation student," Shania Isais, a senior at Irondale High School, who identifies as a member of the Leech Lake Ojibwe Community, told KARE.
"I used to want to do medical school, but now I’m looking more towards law because of debate. I found I have a passion for arguing for things I really want to help support."
There were more than 50 tables set up throughout the History Center, plus panel discussions in the 3M Auditorium, and food trucks in the courtyard.
The fair also drew some older Native American students, including Marine combat veteran Jedidiah Lyons. He's currently enrolled in a two-year program at Red Lake College in Minneapolis and was curious about his options for a four-year college.
"I want to go into business. I've always dreamt of building my own business, running my own thing. I'm good with my hands, I do woodworking and all that stuff, so I just want to know the ins and outs of everything to run a business," Lyons told KARE.
"Every table we go to the people are friendly, they’re informative. Some of the tables I just wanted to get their cool stickers and I just stick around because they start talking about everything and it’s interesting. So, it’s a great time here."
Mindy Meyers, who works with Native American students in the Anoka Hennepin School District, is one of the organizers of the event. She said Indigenous students are very underrepresented in college settings.
"We put this together with intentionality to be able to create safe space with our Indigenous students across the state to explore what their options are," Meyers explained.
"In my nine years of working with Indigenous high school students, just not always seeing themselves represented in spaces creates this unconscious feeling they don't belong there."
She cited the case of a young woman who's pursuing an engineering degree only because a training opportunity was presented to her.
"Although she was amazing in the field of math and science, she never thought about engineering until she was pushed to go to a summer engineering program. She straight-up stated, 'As a Black, Indigenous woman I didn’t see myself reflected there."
The recruiters at the University of Minnesota Morris table had the advantage of advertising that their campus waives tuition for Native American students. That tuition waiver is part of ongoing efforts to address the fact that the campus was once the site of an Indian boarding school.
"We offer a tuition waiver to Native American students. They either have to be an enrolled member of a tribe or a descendent of an enrolled member and just have the paperwork to prove it," Addy Lutchen, a Native Alaskan who attended Morris and now works for the university, explained.
"They still have to find funding for their food and housing, but they can stack scholarships on top to cover that. The scholarships can come from us or from tribes. For instance, my tribe had a scholarship available to me. So, they can use those kinds of things and hopefully come out of school with no debt or low debt."
Gov. Tim Walz also stopped by the event to welcome students and to make a pitch for them picking a Minnesota college rather than going out of state.
"My commitment as governor is to make sure you are seen, heard and valued in this state and that your heritage is lifted up as a part of who we are," Walz told students.
On his way out of the History Center Walz told KARE, "It's essential, I think, to get in front of these folks and say, 'Look, Indigenous people are contemporary. They're here right now. We need them in Minnesota'!"
Walz is on track to become the first governor in state history to visit all 11 tribal nations within the state's borders. His running mate in 2018 and 2022, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, is the first person of color elected to a statewide office in Minnesota and the highest-ranking Native American person to hold a statewide office.