Chief Washakie Scholarship Recipients Selected at UW

Chief Washakie scholarships recently were awarded to 16 University of Wyoming students for the coming academic year.

They will be recognized at the American Indian Studies Honoring of Graduates ceremony Friday, May 9, at 6 p.m. in the Garden Ballroom of the UW Conference Center, located at 22nd Street and Grand Avenue in the Hilton Garden Inn.

New recipients are Contessa Bonds, a kinesiology and health senior from Riverton; Ashlee Enos, accounting junior, Fort Washakie; Rachel Felter, social work graduate student, Riverton; Avis Garcia, counselor education and supervision graduate student, also working toward a doctoral degree, Lander; and Kelly Hiwalker, organizational leadership senior, Fort Washakie.

Other new recipients are Sandra Iron Cloud, curriculum and instruction graduate student, Ethete; Signa McAdams, elementary education junior, Riverton; Lee Tendore, Native American studies junior, Fort Washakie; Kailyn Washakie, English junior, Fort Washakie; and Alyson White Eagle, energy resource management and development junior, Fort Washakie.

Current recipients of the Chief Washakie Scholarship -- who will continue to receive support for the coming year -- are Rain Chippewa of Fort Washakie, seeking a law degree; Colleen Friday, rangeland ecology and watershed management senior, Laramie; Mia Holt, chemistry junior, Lander; Nicola Holt, anthropology junior, Lander; Franklin Lanier, psychology senior, Riverton; and Shanae Lawson, elementary education senior, Riverton.

The scholarship program was created in 2003 when the Chief Washakie Foundation gave $200,000 to UW. Funds were collected to create Chief Washakie statues in the United States and Wyoming capitol buildings, and the joint tribal headquarters in Fort Washakie. The gift was matched by the state, creating a $400,000 endowment that annually produces income for the scholarships.

The Chief Washakie Memorial Endowment at UW helps students and educators -- with significant ties to the Wind River Reservation community -- gain formal knowledge, skills and abilities.

“The spirit of the award assumes that the recipients have, as part of their ultimate goals, some direct participation, appropriate to their educational background, in activities that will further the common good of the people of the Wind River Indian Reservation,” says Debra Littlesun, UW financial aid scholarships associate director.

The selection committee is composed of representatives of the Wind River Reservation community and UW. Members are James Trosper, Chief Washakie Foundation chairman; Mark Harris, co-chairman of the Chief Washakie Foundation; Zedora Enos, great-granddaughter of Chief Washakie; May Raynolds, a Lander resident and member of the Chief Washakie statue committee; Littlesun; Angela Jaime, UW College of Education associate professor; and Amy McClure, UW Outreach regional office academic coordinator at Central Wyoming College.

For more information about the Chief Washakie Scholarships, contact Littlesun at (307) 766-2411 or email dreed14@uwyo.edu.