Native American Journalists Association

The Native American Journalists Association announced five Indigenous students as winners of the 2019 NAJA Facebook Journalism Project Scholarships.

Jaida Grey Eagle, Arielle Farve, Niya Henry, Hunter Hotulke and Caitlin Hunt will be awarded $10,000 each from the partnership project aimed at supporting quality journalism that strengthens and connects communities.

Facebook granted $250,000 to NAJA for the 5-year scholarship program. Each year, NAJA awards five, $10,000 scholarships to Indigenous students. This is the second year of the project.

To be eligible, NAJA requires applicants to be enrolled juniors, seniors or graduate students at an accredited university in the U.S. They must be pursuing a degree in digital media, journalism or communications.

Grey Eagle (Oglala Lakota) majors in photography, with a specific focus on photojournalism and Indigenous storytelling at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Farve (Chickasaw) was on track to complete a Bachelor of Science in strategic communications and multimedia journalism with honors during the scholarship application process, and planned to pursue a master’s degree in mass communication at Oklahoma State University’s School of Media and Strategic Communications.

Henry (Navajo) is studying fashion journalism at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco as an online graduate student, following two graduate degrees in media arts and photography. Henry has also held the title of social media and branding leader for ‘Phoenix Fashion Week’ since 2015.

Hotulke (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma) is a junior, studying communications at Rogers State University in Claremore, Oklahoma.

Hunt (Lumbee) is a junior studying journalism with a minor in communication studies at Ohio University in Columbus, Ohio. She is a 2019-2020 Native American Journalism Fellow as well as NAJA-NBC at ‘The Today Show’ this summer. Her other NAJA involvement includes an internship position helping with several of the organization’s major media projects, including the Red Press Initiative and Reading Red Report.

NAJA encourages all Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, First Nations, Inuit and Métis student journalists to apply for a scholarship next year to help them along their way to developing into the next generation of Native media professionals.

NAJA also encourages everyone to attend the 2019 National Native Media Conference Sept. 15-18 at the Mystic Lake Center in Prior Lake, Minnesota.

For more information about student opportunities, programming, and NAJA, visit: www.naja.com.

NAJA serves and empowers Native journalists through programs and actions designed to enrich journalism and promote Native cultures.