Who is partnering with tribal nations to serve the nation?
Orange is the Answer.
At Oklahoma State University, we're collaborating with and investing in the health and well-being of Native American communities across our state and beyond. From STEM-related high school curriculums to partnering with the Cherokee Nation to establish a medical school in the heart of the Cherokee Nation, OSU is standing with our American Indian students and communities to serve our nation and prepare for the future.
With the founding of the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation, OSU has the Nation’s first tribally affiliated medical school. This unprecedented partnership with one of the largest tribal Nations in the country allows OSU to build a physician workforce for rural Oklahoma and other tribal communities by recruiting talented men and women from these areas, training them in these communities and having them return to practice medicine there.
OSU is also partnering with the United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior to create the "Tribal Treaties Database." This database indexes Native American treaties from 1778-1883 and can be browsed by tribe, treaty or location. This unique partnership between OSU and the federal government allows anyone to access these treaties from anywhere in the world.
OSU faculty were entrusted with a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to help prepare students for next-generation technology while allowing them to build and visualize the world around them. It will also create an innovative curriculum for local Native American communities to enhance workforce development and help them bring their stories and experiences to life in creative ways.
Our Native Earth | Native Sky (NENS) program is a $3.3 million cooperative agreement between OSU and NASA through NASA’s Science Activation Program, which allows us to develop culturally relevant STEM programming with Oklahoma Native American Nations. The NENS program aims to increase the understanding of and interest in STEM fields for middle school students in the Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations that interweaves their stories and language with STEM principles.
OSU led the nation by founding the first partner centric Center for Sovereign Nations in 2015. With a lead investment by the Chickasaw Nation and later investments by the Choctaw Nation and the Cherokee Nation, the Center collaborates with many tribal nations and serves all Native students and their friends. Student leaders represent 20 tribal nations and serve as ambassadors between their tribal nations and OSU.
Through these initiatives, OSU is committed to collaborating with Native American communities across the United States to prepare for the future and honor tribal heritage.