Members of non-federally recognized tribes have attended Haskell Indian Nations University since the 1950s but a recent rule change blocks them from enrolling.

“We here at Haskell can only accept students who are enrolled members of federally recognized tribes,” spokesperson Stephen Prue told The Lawrence Journal-World.

Prue doesn't know when the rule was implemented. But Cedric Sunray, who attended Haskell and is a member of the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians, wants to change it.

“We need Haskell,” Sunray told the paper. “We need that access.”

Sunray runs the Haskell Endangered Legacy Project that documents the presence of non-recognized tribal members as Haskell and other Indian or predominantly Indian institutions.

Get the Story:
Former Haskell student trying to change rule permitting only federally recognized tribes for admission to university (The Lawrence Journal-World 6/14)

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Cedric Sunray: Boarding schools and recognition (4/6)