Diverse pathways of "giving back" to tribal community perceptions of Native American college graduates

The purpose of this study was to explore the concept of "giving back" from a Native American perspective and the role it plays throughout the educational journeys of Native American degree recipients and beyond. Semi-structured interviews were used to illuminate the nuances of the giving back concept from a Native perspective. A total of twelve participants with a bachelor s degree from four-year and graduate institutions in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest regions were interviewed. The participants in the study were selected based on the relative years they attended and graduated from college and were loosely organized into three groups: Recent Graduates, Experienced Workers, and Respected Elders. Data analysis revealed intergenerational similarities and differences among the three groups throughout their K-12 years, during college and after degree attainment. Several barriers and persistence factors were also identified. This study clearly demonstrated that the desire to give back played a critical role in the lives of the participants in this study. A key finding is that the concept of giving back is much more complex, difficult, and even painful, in the lives of Native American degree recipients upon degree completion. For every rewarding experience that giving back provided, there was also numerous struggles in the process. The process of degree attainment often resulted in strained relationships between Native American graduates and their own communities. The findings of this study are significant for two reasons. Although previous studies found that the desire to give back is a strong persistence factor for Native students in college, few studies specifically focused on the rewards and struggles associated with giving back for these students once they completed their degrees. The findings of this study clearly showed that the participants demonstrated a tremendous capacity of resiliency throughout their lives. However, the participants continued to encounter adversity when faced with the choice of how they gave back to their tribal communities after college. The participants gave back in diverse ways: some chose to "physically" move back home to give back while others gave back from afar. In unique ways, the same resiliency they needed while persisting toward degree completion was the same resiliency they needed to give back to the community after degree completion