The College Fund/Pendleton Student Blanket Design contest is now open!
Students Can Win Scholarships, Blankets, and Cash Prizes
The American Indian College Fund and Pendleton Woolen Mills are accepting submissions for The Tribal College Blanket Design Contest. American Indian and Alaska Native students attending a tribal college or university are eligible to submit up to two designs. The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2025.
Now in its fifth year, the Tribal College Blanket Design Contest elevates the work of promising artists attending tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). Competition winners will have their designs distributed on products internationally and receive scholarships and cash prizes. Winning designs are featured on wool blankets in Pendleton’s American Indian College Fund collection. Pendleton has worked with the College Fund since 1995 and has provided over $1.3 million in scholarship support for American Indian and Alaska Native students attending TCUs.
Located on Indian reservations and in remote, rural areas, TCUs provide a critical link to higher education, career advancement, and Indigenous knowledge for their communities. Every year the College Fund provides millions of dollars to thousands of TCU students; the blanket design contest adds to that support while elevating Native art, culture, and stories.
Submission guidelines and applications are available on the College Fund’s website at https://collegefund.org/pendletoncontest. Any American Indian or Alaska Native student attending a TCU can submit up to two designs. Formal artistic study and textile design experience are not required.
Contest design winners are selected each year by a committee comprised of Native American artists and College Fund and Pendleton staff. The inner of this contest will see the blanket debut in Spring of 2026.
One of this Year’s Winners – Trey Blackhawk
Trey Blackhawk (Winnebago), is one of three winners of the 2023 contest (with the blanket debut in 2024). His design is Drum Keepers. Blackhawk is a graduate of Little Priest Tribal College with a degree in liberal arts who is currently working on an applied sciences degree. Traditional songs were the inspiration for Drum Keepers, which Blackhawk said holds meaning for all tribes, as each uses the drum in some way.
He wondered how the traditional songs of each community had been preserved and passed down and wanted to create a piece that reflected the importance of the drum that gives life to the traditional songs that are sung.
Blackhawk said, “I want to keep the songs alive that have been sung for many generations in our tribe. There are not many of us that sing, and I wanted to be a part of that percentage that carries on the knowledge of these songs we sing. I tell the younger generation to start learning how to sing and know these songs, as these songs make us who we are."
Learn More:
There are two more winners of the 2023 student design contest!
Meet Cydnee Shangreaux and see her crib blanket design: Morning Storm
Meet Troy Tso and see his saddle blanket design: Directions Home
Trey’s story and details of his blanket design: Drum Keepers
More about the Ho-Chunk Village: Honoring the Clans Sculpture Garden
Detailed photos of the garden’s statues and plaques: Gypsies at Heart
The American Indian College Fund —For more information about the College Fund, visit www.collegefund.org.
Pendleton’s Philanthropic Partners
- The American Indian College Fund: Supporting education
- Northwest Native American Center of Excellence (NNACOE): at Oregon Health & Science University
- Center of Southwest Studies: Preserving Native American arts and funding Native American art education
- Native American Rehabilitation Association (NARA): Culturally informed Health care for Native women
- DigDeep: Supporting the Navajo Water Project
- National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC): Dedicated to restoring sovereignty and safeguarding Native women and children
- Missing and Murdered Dine Relatives (MMDR): Protecting generations and raising awareness
