Indigenous Internships

Indigenous Internship Program.

Applications are Now Closed for 2024!

Deadline: March 1st

About the Heritage Lands Collective.

Heritage Lands Collective is an Indigenous-led nonprofit that supports the relational connection and cultural continuity of heritage communities on ancestral homelands by facilitating community-led intergenerational government-to-government consultation, co-management, research, heritage preservation projects, outdoor learning experiences, ecological restoration, technical assistance, capacity building, community empowerment, and public education and outreach.

Applicant Requirements.

  • Of Tribal or Indigenous heritage (Tribal enrollment not required but preferred)

  • 18 years of age or older

  • U.S. citizen

  • Interested in cultural anthropology, archaeology, ecology, education, communication, or related fields

  • Interested in supporting Tribes in their efforts to preserve their ancestral lands and cultural heritage

  • Must have access to a computer and internet

  • Must be a person of intellectual and spiritual humility, able to take direction and follow it

  • Must be detail oriented

Internship Requirements.

We design our internships to be flexible for our interns and staff. But here are some things to know:

Compensation.

Interns will be paid $18/hour before taxes, take home pay will be based on the state in which you live. All travel expenses for fieldwork will be covered by us with per diem provided. There is no holiday work, paid vacations, retirement plans, or other benefits/compensation as part of the internship.

Duties & Responsibilities.

Interns may be asked to perform any of the following during their internship tenure:

  • Conduct library and digital anthropological research

  • Assist in drafting research proposals

  • Participate in ethnographic fieldwork

  • Record, transcribe, and code interviews

  • Assist in writing technical reports for our community partners and government agencies

  • Develop educational public outreach materials and classroom curriculum for our community partners

  • Present research findings at regional conferences and/or partner community meetings

  • Learn about career opportunities, resumes, financial planning, retirement planning, etc.

Helpful Skills & Abilities.

  • Undergraduate or graduate coursework in American Indian studies, anthropology, archaeology, education, museum studies, ecology, or a related field

  • Ability to work as part of a diverse research team

  • Ability to hear, see, and understand other people’s perspectives, especially when they are very different from your own

  • Ability to adapt to a dynamic work environment and quick changes in environmental conditions

About the Internship.

The intention of our Indigenous Internship Program is to offer Tribal/Indigenous youth an opportunity to receive training and experience in working with Tribal communities (in Colorado, New Mexico, etc.) and government partners (e.g., BLM, USFS, etc.). Interns will receive field experience conducting professional ethnographies with Tribal Elders and representatives at cultural heritage sites. Many of our interns work directly with Elders from their own communities. While doing so, interns will also have ample opportunity to network with archaeologists, anthropologists, ecologists, education/communication experts, and other professional staff from our federal, state, and/or city government partners. This allows interns to explore potential career opportunities. Our internship program offers paid positions where interns are assigned to one of our ongoing projects, under the supervision and guidance of HLC staff, who are professional anthropologists and ecologists.

Duration & Location.

This position is remote, you will only have to travel for fieldwork. The length of the internship is a minimum of 8 weeks, but is ultimately based on:

  • Availability of funds

  • The intern’s Summer/Fall schedule (you can limit your internship to the summer months)

  • HLC staff Summer/Fall schedule

Course Credit.

HLC does not offer course credit for internships, but will certify work/study performed.

Reality Check.

  • Our youth are passionate and we love that, but passion without experiential wisdom only causes destruction and suffering, especially in relational contexts

  • We value your passion, classroom education, and personal experience as an Indigenous person, but we do not allow anyone near Elders who approaches with arrogance; we prioritize those who approach this experience with humility, knowing that this type of work is messy and difficult, and often takes place under conditions that are far from ideal

  • If you cannot overlook differences in culture, language, word usage, appropriateness, etc. and must have an ideal and comfortable world around you, this is not the experience for you

Expectations & Accommodations.

  • Perform all duties with guidance from HLC staff

  • Abide by all HLC field safety training and guidance

  • Respect all informed consent standards when working with community partners and HLC staff

  • Field work days often require up to 14 hours of work per day

  • Work in adverse weather conditions including heat, rain, and snow

  • Walk over uneven terrain, up/down hills, and through vegetation

  • Walk for distances up to a mile

  • Comply with all health and safety protocols including CDC Covid-19 Guidelines

  • Accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities, and those with other extenuating circumstances including family responsibilities, to gain as much out of their internship experience as possible

Meet Our Interns

  • 2023 Intern

    Mark Wing is from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in southwest Colorado, where he grew up on the reservation, raised in Towaoc by Grandparents Mr. Albert Wing and Mrs. Jean Miller Ketchum-Wing. “Growing up with my Grandparents was [the] greatest part of my life, they had a summer camp up on the Ute Mountain then a winter camp…13 miles west of the Ute Mountain place…where they raise livestock, cattle, horses, sheep.” Mark’s mother Miss Dorinda Wing lived near his grandparents’ home in Towaoc. She attended San Juan College in Farmington, New Mexico, graduating with a degree in special needs and early childhood education. “Growing up in elementary school I remember her working at the Head Start here in Towaoc…Then later…in the Re-1 School district as a childcare special needs aid…She and I attended Church services, where she participated in a training to be a preacher and running her own church in the future.”

    “I grew up following my mother’s footstep as well as my Grandpa’s footsteps in my career.” After high school, Mark worked for the Ute Mountain Tribe as a custodian and seasonal land survey assistant, and as a cowboy taking care of Tribal cattle, as well as in security at the Ute tribal casino and as a truck driver. His studies in early childhood education led to a position as a Native American Student Advocate and as a youth advisor coordinator. He serves on the Boards of the Ute Mountain TERO Commission, Ute Mountain Housing Board and a youth coalition in Montezuma County. He is also a Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Bear Dance Chief and a Sun Dance Chief for the Fort Hall Indian Tribe in Idaho.

  • 2021 Intern

    Joanie is a cultural anthropology student at the University of Northern Colorado. She focuses her studies on cultural conservation for indigenous people. Joanie is Hopi (Sun Clan), Meskwaki (Bear Clan), Ojibwe, and Cherokee, but culturally identifies as Hopi. Her interests include decolonization in academia, language preservation, indigenous sustainability, food, music, art, fashion, and movies. She has done cultural conservation work with the World Learning program, helping create Ayore.org, and working for Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture Institute.

  • 2023 Intern

    Mak'we Nune'y Niya (Hello my name) Vansan Rose Vicenti, I am Ute/Jicarilla Apache from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. In 2019 I started my Internship with the Heritage Lands Collective. It has been great working with the HLC crew and the BLM. As an Intern there are great projects to work on with Ute Elders where you go on trips to go see the historic sites, see the petroglyphs, and to have the Ute Elders tell there side of their story of what might happen there and to collect the data to use for the projects.

    Being part of the trips and working as an Intern has been a great experience. As we share these projects with the community, hopefully they take away something they learn about the Ute historic Land. It's great that people are so interested in the history of the Utes.

    If there are any interns interested to apply for the HLC internship, Please Do! It's a great experience and a very great team who will help you along the way and you will learn a lot of skills as an intern, also great Trips and Projects.

  • 2021 Intern

    My name is Ritchie Sahneyah, I am Tobacco Clan from the Village of Tewa on the Hopi Reservation. I am a summer intern at Living Heritage Research Council, providing support to the Browns Canyon National Monument Ethnographic Study. I am currently pursuing a degree in Anthropology at Pima Community College. I enjoy being outdoors, ranching, farming, hunting, and exploring new places. My aspiration is to have a career in the Anthropology/Archaeology field and to educate people about the importance of preserving and understanding the history of ancestral people.

  • 2020 Intern

    I highly recommend this internship with HLC, you will be working with some of the most understanding people who are truly passionate about ethnography and cultural preservation. HLC definitely takes into account the community’s’ belief and value when conducting research especially Indigenous and Native groups.

  • 2022 Intern

    When Joseph first joined us he was a new PhD student with a lot of experience in agriculture and land management. He had also worked with Tribal communities in the U.S. and internationally for many years in various capacities and as a researcher. He joined HLC to learn how to conduct ethnographic research and because working with Elders is his dream job. Today Joseph has become HLC’s Executive Director where he is working to expand the scope of our work with his diverse skill sets.