The University of South Dakota

Tiospaye kin, tanyan ya hi pi!

The United States is home to more than 4 million American Indian peoples. More than 10% of South Dakota's population is American Indian, giving U students a rich and unique environment in which to appreciate and gain knowledge about American Indian peoples.

The American Indian Studies program gives you the education, research and experience to prepare for living and working in a multicultural world. Our interdisciplinary foundation provides opportunities to utilize an independent and distinct approach to research and teaching.

Our interdisciplinary curriculum includes concepts of:

Understand From Within

While some disciplines have the tendency to view Indigenous peoples from the outside looking in, American Indian Studies attempts to understand from within and disseminate and share knowledge from a native perspective. With this in mind, our American Indian Studies Department supports and provides an intellectual environment where teaching and research are based on the priorities and knowledge of South Dakota's Indian communities, while placing it within the fabric of South Dakota, and the whole of North America (Turtle Island), and within the context of emerging, global indigeneity.