The Eastern Association on Indian Affairs was started in New York in 1922 to assist a group of Pueblo people seeking to protect their land rights. The following decades saw it growing and merging with other like-minded organizations and it became the Association on American Indian Affairs (AAIA) in 1946.

Over the years AAIA has played an integral part in drafting a number of important laws, including the Indian Child Welfare Act, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and the Tribal Governmental Tax Status Act. We have established organizations like the Medicine Wheel Coalition for the Protection of Sacred Sites and negotiated landmark agreements to protect sacred lands such as the Bighorn Medicine Wheel/Medicine Mountain in Wyoming. We have awarded scholarships to Native American college and graduate students from both federally recognized and non-federally recognized tribes.

AAIA is a national Indian organization with offices in Maryland and Rhode Island. We are governed by an all-Native American Board of Directors from across the country. Our programs fall into three main categories: youth/education, cultural preservation and sovereignty.

• Be enrolled members within their respective tribe from continental US tribes or Alaska Native. 
• Submit a copy of tribal enrollment (there is no minimum blood quantum requirement for eligibility). This can be a copy of the student's tribal I.D. card or a copy of an official letter from the tribe.
• Be enrolled as full-time students for both fall and spring semesters. 
• Have a minimum 2.5 out of 4.0 GPA.
• Attend an accredited institution and be seeking an Associate's Degree or higher (AAIA does not fund certificate programs or seminaries). 
• Submit a current class schedule and transcript

• freshman
• sophomore
• junior
• senior
• graduate

• US Citizen

All scholarships are for graduate and undergraduate students from federally recognized tribes except for the Allogan Slagle Memorial Scholarship. Some of these scholarships are curriculum specific. Students from federally recognized tribes are not eligible for the Allogan Slagle Memorial Scholarship. 

Applicants enrolled in non-federally recognized tribes are only eligible for the Allogan Slagle Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship is open to graduate and undergraduate students in any curriculum.

Scholarship FAQ's

If you have any questions, please contact SCHOLARSHIPS.AAIA@indianaffairs.org, or (240) 314-7155.