(Re)Centering Indigenous American Values in a College Setting: A Higher Education Program to Increase a Sense of Belonging for Indigenous American Psychology Students

Abstract: This article explores the basic need for a sense of place and belonging within an academic institution to facilitate success in college, especially for Indigenous American students from rural communities. This practice-oriented article provides one example of an Indigenous student group that aims to foster a sense of belonging through community building and a (re)centering of traditional values in psychology. A sense of belonging is particularly important for Indigenous American students, who represent a small percentage of college students yet have some of the highest rates of noncompletion. While the authors are a mix of faculty and students, this article is written from the perspective of practitioners in the field, not as a formal research paper. In sharing this example of a student-led group, our intention is to encourage institutional support to empower students to create similar groups at other higher education institutions across various majors.