Wind River Tribal College, or WRTC, is a tribally chartered college located in
Fort Washakie, Wyoming
Fort Washakie ( arp, Ce'eyeino'oowu') is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fremont County, Wyoming, United States, within the Wind River Indian Reservation and along U.S. Route 287. The population was 1,759 at the 2010 census. The headquarters ...
. The campus is on the
Wind River Indian Reservation
The Wind River Indian Reservation, in the west-central portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming, is shared by two Native American tribes, the Eastern Shoshone ( shh, Gweechoon Deka, ''meaning: "buffalo eaters"'') and the Northern Arapaho ( arp, ...
in central Wyoming. WRTC serves residents of the
Wind River Indian Reservation
The Wind River Indian Reservation, in the west-central portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming, is shared by two Native American tribes, the Eastern Shoshone ( shh, Gweechoon Deka, ''meaning: "buffalo eaters"'') and the Northern Arapaho ( arp, ...
and surrounding communities. WRTC's enrollment consists of mostly
Northern Arapaho and
Eastern Shoshone
Eastern Shoshone are Shoshone who primarily live in Wyoming and in the northeast corner of the Great Basin where Utah, Idaho and Wyoming meet and are in the Great
Basin classification of Indigenous People. They lived in the Rocky Mountains d ...
students.
History
WRTC was chartered by the Northern Arapaho Business Council in September 1997.
Partnerships
WRTC has articulation agreements with the
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...
and the
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
.
WRTC is a member of the
American Indian Higher Education Consortium
The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) was established in 1972 to represent the interests of the newly developed tribal colleges, which are controlled and operated by American Indian nations. The four founders were Gerald One F ...
(AIHEC), which is a community of tribally and federally chartered institutions working to strengthen tribal nations and make a lasting difference in the lives of American Indians and Alaska Natives. WRTC was created in response to the higher education needs of American Indians. WRTC generally serves geographically isolated populations that have no other means accessing education beyond the high school level.
In 2013, WRTC graduated 10 students with their bachelor of arts degree in elementary education. The cohort was the first graduates of the partnership between Wind River and Oshkosh.
Programs
WRTC offers associate degree programs in:
* social work,
* business administration,
* elementary education, and
* criminal justice.
In Summer 2015, the college hosted an
Arapaho language
The Arapaho (Arapahoe) language () is one of the Plains Algonquian languages, closely related to Gros Ventre and other Arapahoan languages. It is spoken by the Arapaho of Wyoming and Oklahoma. Speakers of Arapaho primarily live on the Wind Ri ...
camp.
References
External links
Wind River Tribal College
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Community colleges in Wyoming
Tribal colleges and universities
Land-grant universities and colleges
1997 establishments in Wyoming
Educational institutions established in 1997
Public universities and colleges in Wyoming
Wind River Indian Reservation