During his time in the music program at UM, Aimsback said he felt like a “live specimen” who was respected enough to be kept in class, but not enough for his opinion to be heard even when he held the expertise.

“They would use these big words that I didn't know nothing about, about my own culture, about the music that I've experienced my whole life, and they hovered this authority over me,” he said. “But I’m the prime person to ask about that. Like, I can tell you about the beaver story, about how that came to be in a hand game song.”

Aimsback went to UM because he wanted to be a music teacher and experience the world outside the reservation. But when he got there, he experienced culture shock and said the curriculum was more intense than he expected, even after participating in college prep programs.

“I knew how I wanted to experience music, and it wasn't quite like that ... Like, they're trying so hard to make me feel welcomed and stuff but it was just like, it was hard,” Aimsback said.

Native students face myriad challenges that begin when they first arrive on campus, such as not having enough money to pay for a $20 student ID at summer orientation, or struggling to ask for help and guidance because their grandmother or an auntie had always asked for them.