‘New Beginnings for Tribal Students’ grant supports student opportunities as Wokini Initiative grows

South Dakota State University was awarded a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support Native American students through the USDA’s New Beginnings for Tribal Students program. 

The grant, issued by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, aims to increase the retention and graduation of tribal students attending land-grant universities. 

With the success of the SDSU Wokini Initiative, this grant will support Igluwiyeya, meaning “to prepare oneself” in Lakota, with the goal to create and sustain Indigenous student pathways to access and success at SDSU and tribal college and university partner, Sinté Gleška University, located in Mission. 

“These USDA investments reinforce our commitment to empowering tribal nations by cultivating tomorrow’s agriculture sector professionals and building a USDA workforce more representative of America,” USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said. “It is important that USDA continues to uplift tribal communities and provides pathways of representation by working with universities and colleges to improve the lives of Native American students and communities through higher education.” 

The grant supports the Igluwiyeya program within the Wokini Initiative in promoting current programs and adding additional pathway information for prospective students. This will also support students interested in pursuing advanced degrees. 

“The No. 1 issue that impacts Indigenous student success on college campuses is a sense of belonging or a lack thereof,” Keely Eagleshield, SDSU program coordinator, said. “That is what this grant is specifically supposed to tackle. It's supposed to help enhance programing for Indigenous students and make students feel more comfortable." 

In practice, this program is a holistic approach to engage potential college students with the university and support them on their path to graduation. Eagleshield said this means showing students that there is no “cookie-cutter approach” to higher education and that there are many paths to earn a degree. 

The Wokini Initiative started in 2018 with 15 students in the fall cohort. By 2023, 50 students from 26 tribal nations joined the Wokini Initiative. This year, a total of 206 students are participating in Wokini programing. 

The first USDA New Beginnings grant, awarded in 2020, established these support services. The additional funding will further enhance existing programs and provide additional resources for new initiatives.

In total, 15 universities were awarded a combined $5 million for the New Beginnings for Tribal Students initiative.