Indigenous value systems, built on relationships and collaboration, have always sustained us — in good times and challenging times. Our values guide us as individuals, communities, and organizations. While we are not all the same, there are values we hold in common; they are the connective tissue that strengthens the cultural identity of Indigenous peoples and their communities. At AISES we encourage you to reflect on the ways your values sustain you and drive you to excel in these monumentally challenging times.
We also hope the AISES mission will inspire you. By developing future-ready Indigenous leaders who blend academic and professional excellence with cultural values, AISES is shaping a generation that can navigate the complexities of the modern world while remaining deeply rooted in their heritage. AISES instills the principle that real-world challenges require a diverse set of skills — including leadership, talent, and Indigenous-based values. It’s not just about succeeding professionally, but about doing so in a way that uplifts Indigenous culture.
In a world where so many issues are multifaceted, having leaders who can draw on their cultural understanding while employing modern tools and strategies is powerful. A belief that cultural values and technical skills can coexist and thrive is a core tenet at AISES.
In the 1990s the Council of Energy Resource Tribes (CERT) — an intertribal organization comprising 54 U.S. tribes and First Nations Treaty Tribes of Canada — created the Tribal Resource Institute in Business, Science and Engineering (TRIBES) program. An important program goal was to chart a path for Native students to finish college with the education and technical ability to advance tribal priorities in business, science, and engineering.
CERT wanted Native students to succeed both as college students and technical professionals, and to move forward with a conscious commitment to Indigenous-based values. Early on CERT realized that no matter a student’s chosen discipline, an integral component of learning should be Indigenous identity.
The TRIBES summer bridge program focused on bolstering the academic readiness of college-bound Native students and providing a contextual framework for understanding the link between higher education and their own identity. Among other components, TRIBES demonstrated the link between mainstream academic competencies and tribal community-based issues, concepts, priorities, and values. TRIBES called it “the life-to-self connection.”
CERT went one step further and asked tribal leaders to identify values that are common among tribal cultures and evident in the ceremonies, practices, and traditions unique to each tribe. The Indigenous values they identified are respect, trust, honor, love, community, role modeling, commitment, participation, teamwork, sharing, and risk taking. The leaders indicated that perpetuating these values is critical to the viability of tribal culture.*
Like CERT, AISES acknowledges that our base of common understanding rests on Indigenous values and is key to building commonalities and trust. AISES represents a circle of support that exemplifies Indigenous values and worldview. Core values — respect, generosity, reciprocity, and responsibility — guide relationships in the circle. Strong, diverse relationships foster innovation, and this relational approach drives sustainability. Fulfilling the organization’s mission brings all of us into the circle.
What happens when we live outside our values? Our personal values are fundamental to everything we do. If you are challenged, feel unfulfilled, or are living a life that is not true to you, talk to a mentor, family member, or elder. Examine and reset your values if needed. Think about the life you want to lead. Most important, there is no reason to feel alone. Like our ancestors who depended on the oceans, land, plants, and animals to survive in challenging times and safe times, we can gain resources, support, gratitude, and inspiration from each other.
Thank you, ancestors! Indigenous peoples are pros at living through change! We are equipped with knowledge to ensure that our vision and values survive. All the things our ancestors endured have contributed to who we are today. We will always be pushed out of our comfort zones. We will always be required to assess and reassess our decision-making processes.
This year has brought a major disruption of what is comfortable and familiar. AISES President Sarah EchoHawk has responded with resolve. “Though difficult, we need to continue to do our work and do it well,” she said. “We have a lot of people counting on us.” The dawn of each new day brings possibilities. We are all in this together.
*We thank Lesley Kabotie (Apsáalooke Nation) for sharing the valuable CERT TRIBES resources cited in this blog. With her work as an Environmental Specialist and Director of Tribal Human Resource Development at CERT (1990-1998), she helped to lay the groundwork for the TRIBES summer bridge program and other initiatives. Beginning in 1982, David Lester (Muscogee Creek Nation) served as the executive director of CERT. A former ANA Commissioner from 1978 to 1983, David’s vision, commitment, and contributions to tribal education, self-determination, and sovereignty continue to have an impact even after his passing in 2012.