The Fund is rolling out a new public service announcement campaign titled THINK INDIAN. The campaign tells the story of how America’s 32 accredited tribal colleges and American Indian students are combining traditional Native solutions with modern knowledge to solve contemporary problems.
Tribal colleges and universities preserve the uniquely American Indian way of thinking while celebrating Indian cultures and embracing the latest research and technology. These institutions have become cultural oases where old wisdom and new ideas are fused. Many Native students encounter both their native language and the Internet for the first time at college.
To create the campaign, the Fund and our Portland, Oregon-based advertising partner, Wieden+Kennedy, voted Adweek’s 2008 Global Agency of the Year and known for its signature work for Nike, Target, and Coca-Cola, traveled to Indian Country where we documented the stories of American Indian students studying at tribal colleges.
This body of work not only reflects how American Indian cultural knowledge is being preserved by tribal colleges and used to solve modern-day problems for all people, but it also depicts the depth, beauty, and tenacity inherent in the American Indian students and community that we serve.
The ads have already been run by our supporting partner publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Harper’s, and O.
Wieden+Kennedy has created the Fund’s advertising for the past 18 years on a pro bono basis. We are deeply grateful for their longstanding commitment to American Indian education and the Fund and the invaluable contributions they make with helping us to reach our donors through these compelling and moving ads.