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Mission Statement

The Center for Indigenous Nations Studies contributes to the survival, self-sufficiency, mutual support, empowerment, and decolonization of Indigenous Peoples throughout the world. The Center, working from a cross-cultural and global perspective, educates students through a combination of instruction, study, research, and practical experience.

The Program

The Center for Indigenous Nations Studies (CINS) was founded in 1997 as an interdisciplinary master’s degree program that equips graduates to conduct theoretical and applied research and to develop innovative solutions to issues facing Indigenous communities. Through a rigorous program of study, CINS prepares graduates to assume leadership and policy-making roles in a variety of professions. Collaboration with other departments and programs enriches the educational and developmental opportunities of CINS students.

CINS possesses long-standing relationships with the Tribal Law and Government Center at the University of Kansas Law School and Haskell Indian Nations University. CINS also offers a World Indigenous Graduate Exchange Program with University of Oulu, Finland, and University of Newcastle, Australia to expose our students to global Indigenous issues.

Program Focus

In furtherance of our Mission Statement, the Center for Indigenous Nations Studies focuses on the following academic areas: tribal law and governance; preservation and management of Indigenous resources, including cultural preservation, environmental science and natural resources, and language preservation.

The Center for Indigenous Nations Studies has identified the following core values and principles as important guidelines in the formulation, assessment, and future development of the Center’s personnel, teaching and research: to assist Indigenous Peoples in addressing economic, political, and social problems; to promote unity within the Program and within Indigenous communities and organizations; to promote and defend the sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples; to behave in a respectful manner; to behave in an honorable manner; to challenge all forms of injustice directed at Indigenous Peoples; to acquire and exhibit competence within individual areas of professional and cultural expertise.

About Our Focus

Indigenous Peoples are the descendants of the original habitants of a region prior to colonization. These groups have maintained some or all of their linguistic, cultural and organizational characteristics and consider themselves distinct from the societies currently governing those territories. Throughout the world, Indigenous Peoples have struggled to co-exist with immigrant peoples who have established settlements in their territories. History reflects that in many instances, non-Indigenous Peoples (settler populations and their governments) have not adequately respected or supported the sovereignty or cultural values of Indigenous Peoples, which has threatened the survival of these groups.

Indigenous Peoples continue to face loss of their territories, unwanted mining, dams and settlement, racism, assassinations, disease, military incursion, and poverty. Most are not free to exercise full autonomy, pursue political, economic, and social development on their own terms, consistent their cultural values and beliefs, and instead remain under the control of the colonizing governmental authority. The Center for Indigenous Nations Studies is concerned with the discrimination faced by Indigenous Peoples and is committed to training our students to support the empowerment and sovereignty of these groups.

Class with Michael Yellow Bird