BA in Native Studies Leadership

The Native Studies Leadership Program is the journey to self-determination and reclaiming our cultural sovereignty. Traditional knowledge is our canoe. It moves us away from the western genre that has shaped and determined a false sense of “who we are” and towards our original identity – an identity formed by sacred histories, language, origin stories, and the heroes who continue to defend our families and our homelands.

With its main campus located on the Lummi Indian Reservation in Washington State, 20 miles south of the Canadian border, Northwest Indian College (NWIC) is the only accredited tribal college serving Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. NWIC grew from the Lummi Indian School of Aquaculture, founded in 1973, a single-purpose training program developed to prepare technicians for employment in Indian-owned and operated fish and shellfish hatcheries in the United States and Canada.

Northwest Indian College was granted accreditation at the Northwest Commission's associate level on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), effective September 1993. In 2010, NWIC became accredited at the baccalaureate level and now offers four bachelor’s degrees. The US Department has approved the College’s educational programs of Education, Veteran’s Administration, and the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board to administer eligible students' financial assistance. Northwest Indian College is a member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), the American Association of Community Colleges, and the American Council on Education.