Carrie Billy, a member of the Navajo Nation, spent most of her early years living on two Native American reservations in Arizona. From kindergarten through high school, though, she never once had a Native teacher.
“I don’t think it occurred to us that American Indians could be teachers because we never saw one — we could be the janitors [or] teacher’s aides,” recalls Billy, president and CEO of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC). “In looking back at it now … that’s a really sad way to grow up.”
But AIHEC represents 37 tribal colleges, which are working to change that, Billy says.
“They’re trying to make sure that young American Indian or Alaskan Native kids have people who look like them in the classroom — that, to me, is a big change for the better.”
But in the communities where Billy grew up, severe poverty and alcoholism were prevalent. This meant that college wasn’t a priority for some youth.
Fortunately, Billy had a role model in her mother, one of several adults in her life who attended college. In addition, Billy also pulled from internal strengths. “I think, for some reason, I am one of those people who’s just more optimistic — I don’t automatically think that something can’t be done. I think that it can be done; we just have to plod along until we do it.”
When she entered the University of Arizona, Billy had aspirations of becoming a sports journalist. However, nearing the end of her undergraduate schooling, she had a change of heart.
