We're the UW-Eau Claire Inter-Tribal Student Council (ITSC)! ITSC organizes and participates in several annual activities.
In 1989, Native American students at the UW-Eau Claire organized the Native American Student Association (NASA). In the fall of 1998, the student members updated and revised their organization's by-laws and voted to change the official title of the student group to the American Indian Student Association (AISA). References to both AISA and NASA will occur, but both sets of initials refer to the sa
me student organization. The organization again underwent a name change in the 21st century to reflect an encompassing vision, thus the Inter-Tribal Student Council (ITSC), was formed. The student association provides a forum for all American Indian students and friends to share their ideas and to express their personal, academic and professional support for each other while assisting in the promotion of awareness and understanding for Native cultures and indigenous issues across the campus and throughout the local and regional communities. During each academic school year, the student association holds bi-monthly meetings and social gatherings. The students also function as an informal speaker's bureau by presenting to classes other than their own. The students are active in the development and implementation of several, significant cultural events on the UW-Eau Claire campus throughout each school year. Native American Heritage Month produces opportunities for students and the community to engage in American Indian issues through guest speakers, workshops, and films. It is also during this time that we hold our annual traditional powwow. Friends, dancers and drums from a five-state area travel to join the students and the community for this annual celebration. With an overwhelming amount of support from the University, the American Indian Studies Program, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs, ITSC is successful in planning and promoting these events.
