NAI UPDATES

Kehli Henry Named NAI's First Tribal Engagement and Research Coordinator

Dr. Kehli Henry joined the Native American Institute in September as the new Tribal engagement and research coordinator. Henry is White Earth Anishinaabe (her father is an enrolled citizen) with Ojibwe and European ancestors. She was raised primarily in Michigan. In 2019, she earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from MSU, where her studies focused on cultural and medical anthropology and health and wellness in contemporary Native American communities. More importantly, Henry brings decades of experience working with and for Tribal Nations. She has experience in K-12 education, youth and cultural programs, curriculum alignment, grants, Tribal data governance, and Tribe-public school partnerships through her extensive work for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan. She has also worked with Tribal Nations through her graduate studies, work for Cambridge Research Consultants, and recent (2023-2025) postdoctoral research fellowship at MSU. Read more

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NAI Collaborates with MiLEAP to Update Native American Resource Guide

Michigan State University's Native American Institute (NAI) partnered with the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP) to produce an updated resource guide designed to improve access to Tribal and Indigenous resources.

The Native American Resource Guide serves as a centralized, user-friendly tool to help Tribal communities, Native students, community partners, and stakeholders connect with Tribal and Indigenous services and opportunities across Michigan. By providing digital access to these resources, the guide supports greater collaboration, cultural understanding, and community engagement. Read more

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2025 Michigan Area Tribal and Institutional Partner Convening at MSU

On April 11–12, 2025, Michigan State University welcomed educators, Tribal leaders, students, and community members to campus for the Michigan Area Tribal & Institutional Partner Convening, co-hosted by the Native Forward Scholars Fund and the MSU Native American Institute. This free, two-day gathering was a powerful testament to the collective commitment to supporting Native students in higher education. Read more

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Empowering Native Youth Through NSTEAM: MSU Science Festival Welcomes High School Students

Michigan State University is proud to provide a unique opportunity for Native high school students (Grades 9–12) from across the United States and Canada to engage in an immersive STEAM experience as part of the annual MSU Science Festival. In collaboration with the Native American Institute, Native Americans in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (NSTEAM) is designed to inspire and connect Indigenous youth with the exciting world of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. Read more

OTHER NEWS

Welcome Esther Belin, the Audrey and John Leslie Endowed Chair in North American Indian and Indigenous Literary Studies at Michigan State University

The Native American Institute is excited to welcome Dr. Esther Belin to campus. Belin is a citizen of the Navajo Nation, the inaugural poet laureate of Durango, Colorado (2024–2026), and a 2025 Academy of American Poets laureate fellow. She calls the region just east of Dibé Ntsaa, the northern boundary mountain of Dinétah, her home. She has two collections of poetry, From the Belly of My Beauty and Of Cartography, and is a co-editor of The Diné Reader: An Anthology of Navajo Literature, which received the American Book Award. She is the Leslie Endowed Chair in North American Indian and Indigenous Literary Studies at Michigan State University. Read more

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Michigan State University welcomes Kurt Kipfmueller as the 1855 Professor of Indigenous and Tribal Natural Resource Management

Dr. Kurt Kipfmueller has been hired as the 1855 Professor of Indigenous and Tribal Natural Resource Management, jointly appointed in the Department of Forestry at Michigan State University and the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities. His research uses the information and stories encoded within the annual rings of trees to help reconstruct past environments including fire, vegetation change, and climate variability. His work centers on collaborative efforts to better understand Great Lakes fire regimes and the role of cultural fire stewardship. The collaborative group has developed a network of fire history sites across the Upper Great Lakes that have helped to tell the story of important relationships between people, pine, and fire. The group includes academics, state and federal land managers, Tribal natural resources ecologists, and many others. Read more

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2nd Annual Dance by the River Traditional Pow Wow – ‘Honoring our Women’

As the powwow season came to an end, the Anishinaabe Friendship Center (AFC) presented the second Annual Dance by the River Pow Wow September 27–28 to honor the cultural significance of the ancestral powwow grounds of the Anishinaabe people at the Adado Riverfront Park in Lansing, Michigan.

“The Native American Institute is a proud sponsor of the Dance by the River Pow Wow and we deeply appreciate the work Aja Washington, director of the Anishinaabe Friendship Center, her team, and other community members have done to revitalize a long-standing tradition of hosting a powwow in the capital city of Michigan," said Dr. Kevin Leonard, director of the NAI. Read more