CRST member Tanner Veo crowned Mr. AIHEC

BISMARCK, N.D. – The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) selected Cheyenne River Lakota tribal member Tanner Veo to be Mr. AIHEC 2024 at its annual Student Conference held in Minneapolis, MN, March 9 -12, 2024.

The Mr/Ms/Mx AIHEC competition is intended to recognize outstanding tribal college students who will serve as tribal college ambassadors for 2024-2025. The Mx AIHEC award is conferred on a student who identifies as non-binary.

The AIHEC conference has grown to over 1,000 students, faculty, and staff coming together each spring to compete in academic, cultural, sports, and artistic exercises; share stories and best practices; participate in workshops and plenary sessions; and celebrate the Tribal College Movement. This year’s conference featured a Powwow and a basketball tournament as well as other sports competitions.

The AIHEC Student Congress created the Mr/Ms/Mx competitions to showcase the character, leadership, and academic achievements of three select students from the Tribal College community. The students selected by the judge’s panel will share the Tribal College Movement story and their personal experiences with others at meetings, conferences, pow- wows, and other community gatherings.

Each Tribal College may submit only one candidate for consideration for Mr./Ms./Mx AIHEC. Veo was the candidate submitted by United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) to be considered for Mr. AIHEC. UTTC Faculty member Kimberly Blevins, a former Ms. AIHEC, coached and mentored Veo through the selection process.

To be considered for the honor, Veo submitted his academic transcript, two letters of recommendation, his resume, and a personal statement. The personal statement detailed his past challenges and accomplishments, his current activities and status, and his goals and vision for the future.

In making their selection for the three honors, judges considered all candidates’ scholarship, including their academic record as well as their pursuit of research, advanced studies, and intellectual development; cultural practices, including the candidates’ cultural experiences, knowledge, and involvement within their college and community; personal visions, including their future goals and personal expectations; community service within their college community and within the larger community; AIHEC knowledge, including their understanding of AIHEC and the entire Tribal College Movement, history, and future development; and their speaking ability and overall personal presentation in a live interview at the Conference.

In addition to being interviewed for the title of Mr. AIHEC, Veo participated in the conference by creating and submitting a scientific poster presentation, competing in the Knowledge Bowl competition along with a team of 3 other UTTC students, competing in the archery competition, and participating in the hand games competition along with 11 other UTTC students. He said these events were “intensely competitive.”

Veo says he was truly surprised to be chosen Mr. AIHEC. He met others who were being considered for the title and believed that one of them would win. Before the winner was announced, he made an offering and said a prayer to the Creator that he would continue to move forward whether or not he won the honor.

Veo was born in Aberdeen, SD, one of ten children born to Terrance Veo, former CRST Tribal  Council member, and Kally Kirkie. He describes his early years as “chaotic.” After his parents divorced, the family moved often due partly to the scarcity of housing on the reservation. He mentions that his grandparents were survivors of government boarding schools and as a result did not have healthy parenting skills to guide them as they reared the next generation, including Veo’s parents.

Veo grew up mostly in Aberdeen, SD, but visited the Cheyenne River Reservation often during his childhood. He attended St. Joseph’s Boarding School for grades 6 – 9, which he says was “a good way for me to have a normal life without having to worry about things like having enough to eat.” Three of his younger siblings also attended St. Joseph’s. He said that attending St. Joseph helped him and his siblings learn to be independent.

Veo attended C-EB High School for grades 10 – 12 where he enjoyed photography as an expressive art and built self-confidence in the boxing club. He graduated in 2007. After graduating from C-EB HS he attended Haskell College but dropped out after two years. He then held several different jobs successively, including working for the Tribal office of the Environmental Protection Agency where he developed an interest in Environmental Science and Research.

He enrolled at United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, North Dakota, in 2021. In 2022, friends, faculty, and staff encouraged him to run for President of the Student Government Association. He said he had no intention of running for the office but with so much encouragement from others he felt “compelled” to enter the campaign. He created a video statement that he believes was instrumental in his win.

Veo says he does not see himself as a leader. Rather, he sees himself as “just another student who likes to help others.” Veo calls himself “Ikce Wicasa – a common man” along with Crazy Horse, the legendary war chief and holy man who is said to have called himself “a common man.”

Influenced by his devoutly religious grandmother, Marie Bird, who helped to rear him, Veo has never used alcohol or drugs, saying he wants to set a good example for his younger siblings and others. Also, he wants to be able to fulfill the proper role of the Lakota man who, according to traditional values, is a provider, an encourager, and a bringer of resources to his immediate family and to the larger community.

Veo expects to graduate on May 10, 2024, with his bachelor’s degree in environmental science and research from UTTC. His parents, niece, and sister plan to attend the commencement ceremony. He will begin studies for a master’s degree in environmental science and research in fall, 2024, at Sitting Bull College in Ft. Yates, ND. He plans to eventually earn a Ph.D. in Ecology. 

Veo reflects, “I didn’t really want to come to college, but my cousin Ricky encouraged me. I would say to other young men (who doubt their ability to succeed in education), ‘Our community expects us to be providers and keep going forward.’ I pray every morning that our community will continue to bond and grow closer and continue to move forward.”

(Contact Grace Terry at grace@angelsabide.com)

The post CRST member Tanner Veo crowned Mr. AIHEC first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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