photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

Graduates participate in the Haskell Indian Nations University commencement ceremony on May 8, 2026.

Speakers during Friday’s graduation at Haskell Indian Nations University reminded the graduates to be proud of their identities as they step into the next chapter of their lives.

Friends and family gathered at Coffin Sports Complex, 155 Indian Ave, to celebrate the 176 students who make up Haskell’s class of 2026.

Alex Red Corn, the interim president for Haskell, told the overflowing crowd that although he has been to “lots of graduations” while working in higher education, the graduation ceremony at Haskell “is always the best one.”

Billy Kirkland, the assistant secretary for Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior, gave the special address at the ceremony. Kirkland, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, said he moved around a lot as a kid and wound up at the University of Georgia. Although he said this was his first time at Haskell, he hoped that it would not be the last.

Kirkland said that the graduation is not the end of the road, but the beginning for the new graduates. He said no matter where they end up living — in urban cities or in rural tribal communities — it will be up to them to “tell the stories of Haskell and your people.”

Kirkland noted when the university was first founded in 1884, it was a “place where young Natives were told to disappear” when it was a federally run boarding school. Now, Kirkland said it serves as an “economic engine” for the Native community that celebrates the heritage of its students. He said it is important the students don’t let their cultural heritage disappear.

“Don’t let anyone diminish your identity,” Kirkland said. “You are the future of your communities and of the United States.”

Victoria Kitcheyan, a tribal council member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and former chairwoman of the National Indian Health Board, gave the commencement speech. Kitcheyan said it was a beautiful day to acknowledge the students’ achievements and reflect on what they learned.

Kitcheyan, a Haskell alumna, said that learning at the school “inspired something in each of us,” including gaining knowledge about the 200 years of unfair treatment of Native people by the U.S. government. That historical trauma “has trickled through our generations and left scars of oppression” that have caused devastating economic consequences and health outcomes for Native people. But looking around the room when the graduates walked in, Kitcheyan said she was “overcome with emotion.”

“(The) continued effort and ignition of your spirit is going to continue on,” Kitcheyan said. “You are the hope made flesh of your ancestors’ prayers.”

Kitcheyan told the graduates her Haskell education prepared her for governing, and she said that sometimes victories can take time. Kitcheyan said her tribal council had been working for 50 years to reclaim land illegally taken from the Winnebago Tribe by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for projects along the Missouri River. After seven different iterations of bills had been prepared — it takes an act of Congress to return land — she said the land was finally restored to the tribe this year. Even with the effort and decades long battle, the tribe was able to assert their rights, and Kitcheyan told the graduates that they will also make their mark.

“You’re going to get land returned; you’re going to restore your language; you’re going to take on legal battles that will ripple through the generations to come,” Kitcheyan said.

Kitcheyan said before she left to travel to Haskell, her nephew had prayed that she would “use her big voice.” Kitcheyan said the Ho-Chunk people are known as people of the big voice, and she urged the students to also “step forward with (their) big voice with the boldness and recognition of who you are.” She said the students come from “resilient people, warrior people, medicine people and prayerful people,” and they are surrounded by love and support of their ancestors and previous sacrifices.

“You are divine hope, and an answered prayer,” Kitcheyan said. “Onward Haskell.”

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

Victoria Kitcheyan, a tribal councilmember of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and former chairwoman of the National Indian Health Board, gives the commencement speech during the Haskell Indian Nations University graduation ceremony on Friday, May 8, 2026.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

Billy Kirkland, the assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, gives the special address at Haskell Indian Nations University’s graduation ceremony on Friday, May 8, 2026.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

Tara Roanhorse is honored by Haskell Indian Nation University’s interim president Alex Red Corn as the 2026 Haskell Student of the Year during the graduation ceremony on Friday, May 8, 2026.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

Therann Moore is honored as the American Indian College Fund student of the year by Alex Red Corn, Haskell Indian Nations University’s interim president, during the graduation ceremony on Friday, May 8, 2026.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

Graduates participate in the Haskell Indian Nations University commencement ceremony on May 8, 2026.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

Haskell graduates — and one of their children — celebrate during the graduation ceremony on May 8, 2026.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

Haskell graduates leave the Coffin Sports Complex to cheers from their families after the graduation ceremony on May 8, 2026.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

Haskell students cross the stage, giving hugs and handshakes to the school’s deans, to receive their diplomas on May 8, 2026.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

Haskell graduates pose after receiving their diplomas during the school’s graduation ceremony on May 8, 2026.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

A Haskell Indian Nations University graduate raises his degree in celebration on Friday, May 8, 2026.