The Stanford Native American Cultural Center (NACC) was founded at its current location in the Old Union Clubhouse in 1974, with spaces in the Tecumseh House and Fire Truck House in years prior. This space is the fruition of years of student activism to better serve the needs of Native students on Stanford’s campus. The NACC is an incomparable resource on Stanford’s campus in its role as an educational, cultural and social space for peoples who have been disproportionately affected by colonization and the suppression of their own cultures. Contemporarily, the nature of Indigenous identity is what unites the various peoples represented at the Center. However, this space serves as a valuable resource to all Stanford students, Native and non-Native alike.
Within a year of the Native occupation of Alcatraz island on Oct. 12, 1970, the founding of the Stanford American Indian Organization (SAIO) propelled the efforts of Native students to remove the racist Indian mascot from the University and to create a collective voice for the Native community. At the behest of SAIO, the Stanford president, Board of Trustees and ASSU forced the removal of the mascot from campus. Further, in 1971, SAIO hosted its first Powwow, which continues today as the pinnacle of the Native community’s efforts on campus to recognize the diversity and strength shared among Native cultures. This event is the sixth-largest on Stanford’s campus and draws Native peoples from across the country to celebrate their cultures and rich diversity. 2018 will mark the 47th anniversary of this beloved tradition. Today, the NACC and Muwekma-Tah-Ruk (the Native theme house) are the hubs of Stanford’s Indigenous community and provide a vast array of programming run by professional and student staff alike.
Though Native students at Stanford have had an enormous impact on Stanford’s campus, their numbers have been historically small. The representation of Native Americans has traditionally been unsatisfactory. Although the first two Native American students were admitted in 1894, in the year 1965, only one Native student was known to be enrolled at this institution. Coupled with the acceptance and proliferation of the Indian mascot and the genocidal history between Californian settlers and California Natives — in which Leland Stanford himself was implicated — the fight for defining a strong Native community on Stanford’s campus was both necessary and trialsome.
The Native undergraduate and graduate student population numbered well under 100 until the mid-1980s. The NACC professional staff increased from two half-time positions to two full-time staff members following the release of the University Committee on Minority Issues (UCMI) report in 1989. However, the UCMI report recommended three full-time employees to truly manage and fulfill student need. External and University funds allowed the NACC staffing to increase to 2.5 positions in the early 1990s, when the Native student population surpassed 100.
During the early 1990s, Stanford’s first Native American recruiter was hired by Undergraduate Admissions, and by the end of the decade, the number of Indigenous students numbered close to 175. In 2000, following the dissolution of Graduate Studies programs, the NACC incorporated its Native Graduate Recruiter into its staff to total three full-time employees. The number of Native students at Stanford surpassed 200 a few years later. In 2017, Stanford’s Native undergraduate and graduate student population numbers nearly 350, despite the NACC staffing and funding levels having remained unchanged for decades.
Although the Stanford Native population is relatively small, what it lacks in numbers it recuperates in passion, diversity and drive. Since 1988, the NACC has put on the Stanford Native Immersion Program (SNIP), a five-day freshman pre-orientation retreat designed to introduce new students to life at Stanford. Furthermore, the NACC is the home of a multitude of programs that promote community building and celebration of a shared cultural heritage between the diverse indigenous peoples present on campus. A hallmark of the NACC’s work is the Frosh Fellows program, a collaborative effort put on with the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE). This research program pairs freshmen with Native graduate students to develop and refine a research proposal, giving new student the opportunity to engage in research, the lifeblood of the university.
The NACC has remained an important spiritual, cultural and academic core of resources for Stanford Natives in light of an ever-growing necessity to thinly stretch program dollars. The NACC — as with most of the other ethnic community centers at the turn of the century — had mostly salary dollars in its budget, or that is to say, little to no programming funding. Fixed-term funding for academic, cultural and graduate student programming in the centers was allocated by the President’s and Provost’s Office in the mid to late 1990s, ultimately adding $50,000 to the centers’ base budgets. Unfortunately, nearly half of the NACC’s budget was cut during the economic downturn in 2008-09.
Moving forward, the Native community at Stanford hopes to strengthen and continue its successful community and cultural programming. The strength and resilience of the Stanford Native community merits further support. If the NACC were to receive more funding, they could greatly expand the meaningful programming they provide for all Stanford students, Native and non-Native alike. Awareness, recognition, presence and strength are paramount to Indigenous communities globally. The Center is the hub for all these at Stanford and should be adequately funded to address the real and arduous facticities that affect Native peoples. Stanford has a responsibility to serves its students, recognize its past and look towards the future; supporting the NACC honors this tri-fold task.
Signed,
Nizhoní Begay ’20, Diné
Taylor Billey ’18, Diné
Steven Durbin ’20, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Asución Hampson-Medina ’19, Ho-Chunk Tribe of Nebraska
Kenaba Hatathlie ’19, Diné
Mahalia Hunt ’20, Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak
Peyton Lepp ’18, Potawatomi and Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma
Joseph Little, Oglala Lakota
Shayna Naranjo ’20, Santa Clara Pueblo
Emery Nez-Whitfield ’19, Diné
Constance Owl ’18, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
Will Paisley ’20, Diné and Blackfeet
Chelsea Red Horse Mohl ’20, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma
Mia Ritter Whittle ’18, Caddo and Delaware
Gabriel Saiz – Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and Tadónhe
Lilleana Torio ’21, Diné
Kathryn Treder ’18, Inupiaq and Unangax
Dakota Willis ’20, Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa
Contact the authors at communitycentercoalition ‘at’ gmail.com.