Northwest Indian College’s Development Team is pleased to announce that the College Foundation has met its goal of raising $100,000 for the establishment of the Northwest Indian College Cultural Arts Endowment. For the last four years the College and Foundation have hosted the Fall Cultural Event in the name of Fran “Che top ie” and Bill “Tsi'li'xw” James.

  President Cheryl Crazy Bull said, “We especially want to thank Aunt Fran and Bill for their gracious good will and love in helping us with our endowment.  This is the first endowment of its kind at the College and without their support we wouldn’t have had all the participation and gifts of artists and donors alike.  The Cultural Arts Endowment is housed at the Foundation and the proceeds of the endowment will be used to support students, faculty, and  arts programming that will in turn keep our Native cultural arts alive. “

There are many people the College would like to thank for their support of the Cultural Arts Endowment.  Hy’shqe to Che top ie and Ts’li’xw, to the Culture Department especially Ted Solomon, to the Tom Family, West Shore Family and the Cagey Family, to all of the sponsors and artists and to the staff of the Silver Reef.  

The College and Foundation have been enjoying a great deal of success with fundraising as everyone can see with the many new buildings that are going up on campus.  In addition to the building, we are working on providing more scholarships and resources for operating the College.  Because of the impact of the economy on fundraising and development at the College, the Development Team decided to focus on one big annual benefit dinner and auction to raise funds for cultural arts and education.

Beginning in April 2010, we are introducing a new fundraising benefit and cultural auction event called TL’aneq – Gathering for a Celebration.  This event will combine an auction of select Native cultural experiences with the fine work of our Native artists.   Our goal for this event is to raise funds in support of Northwest Indian College’s vision of providing accredited Native cultural education and building our sustainability.

If you would like more information about TL’aneq, please contact Jamie Foode at 360-392-4238 or jfoode@nwic.edu.