History
About Us
Cankdeska Cikana Community College
Our History
Early 1960s
In the early 1960s Chief Lewis Good House (tribal chairman) was adamant that any services for the people of the Spirit Lake Tribe (then called the Devils Lake Sioux Tribe), were to be based in the villages where the Dakota people lived and raised families, south of Devils Lake. Lake Region Junior College (now Lake Region State College) reached out to Chairman Good House to provide college courses on the reservation. The History of the Plains Indians was the first course listed in the LRJC catalog in 1965-66 and in June 1967, with the Chairman’s support, LRJC received a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to develop a college program for Spirit Lake. This collaboration led to the establishment of a tribal education committee in the 1970s to continue working with LRJC for grant funding for a higher education program for the Spirit Lake community.
1970
In November 1970 a significant conference on Indian post-secondary education was held in Devils Lake, North Dakota by the American Association of Junior Colleges and funded by the Kellogg Foundation. Educators and tribal leaders from eleven reservations and nine Midwest junior colleges discussed the potential for establishing tribal colleges. This conference played a significant role in the future development of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC).
1974-1980
LRJC entered into a bilateral agreement with the Spirit Lake Tribe in 1974 to provide college classes and to assist in establishing a college on the reservation. Little Hoop College obtained US Department of Education, Title III Developing Institutions grant funding that was used for staffing with the first classes offered in January 1975 and as LRJC courses. A feasibility study was done by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in 1980 to determine eligibility of Little Hoop Community College for funding under PL 95-471, the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act. Little Hoop Community College (LHCC) began receiving funds in September 1980.
1982-1990
In 1982, Little Hoop Community College was accepted as a candidate for accreditation status by North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCACS – now called the Higher Learning Commission or HLC) and thus the bilateral agreement with LRJC was terminated. In 1984 LHCC moved into its existing campus building and legally changed the name to Cankdeska Cikana (means Little Hoop) Community College (CCCC). CCCC was accredited by the NCACS in February 1990 at the associate level.
Present Day
CCCC continues to provide post-secondary higher education opportunities for the Spirit Lake Dakota reservation community in northeastern North Dakota as an accredited, public, non-profit institution. Goals for the future include achieving accreditation for a bachelor’s program – preferable for the Dakota Studies Program; campus expansion to build tiny houses for students and community members as part of the academic programming and to address the community economic needs; the development of tribal members for faculty positions; and the establishment of theater/drama/music programming.