The NMU Center for Native American Studies (CNAS), School of Art & Design, and the Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College are the driving force behind the Great Lakes Indigenous Art, Education, and Healing project (GLIAEH). The GLIAEH project team believes teaching and learning Indigenous art with tribal language and culture learning inclusion has the potential to enhance confidence among American Indians; that confidence can empower economic self-sustainability. American Indians are the most underrepresented ethnic minority within higher education, and not surprisingly, American Indians experience significant disparities in the areas of economics and health. The GLIAEH project seeks not only to expand skillsets in traditional and contemporary Indigenous arts, but also merge said skillsets with content knowledge from psychology and arts education to consider a potential framework for an art therapy pre-program centered on American Indian art, culture, language, and mindfulness for American Indian students. In 2020 GLIAEH received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to fuel this journey.
