The Electa Quinney Institute for American Indian Education began in 1999 as a professorship
funded by a gift from the Indian Community School to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
From there, it grew and evolved, reaching its current iteration by 2010. As it stands today,
the EQI's purpose is to identify and meet any educational, informational, or community needs
or deficits, as identified and requested by community members.
The EQI was named after Electa Quinney, a Stockbridge-Mohican tribe member, who became
Wisconsin's first public school teacher after coming to Wisconsin from New York in 1827.
After creating a school run without student fees, she taught both Native American, as well
as white children in a small schoolhouse, as a way for people to change their circumstances
for the better and navigate life's challenges using their education.
Beginning in 1970 by three Oneida women opened what would eventually become the Indian
Community School of Milwaukee, seeking to offer education for Native American students that
prioritised their heritage, culture and history. A year later, the American Indian Movement
(AIM) helped them to find a more permanent location in which to run their educational
endeavour. After falling on difficult financial times, the school closed in 1983, only to
reopen 4 years later in a new location on W. State Street after finalising a 20-year lease.
They began construction on a new school building on tribe-owned land in 2005 and opened the
new building in 2007. The school offers students the chance to learn in three different
Native American languages and teaches students how to balance their cultural heritage and
striving for academic success.
