A Tribal member and veteran recently had the honor of carrying an eagle staff during his graduation from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Kysen Osburn graduated June 15, 2025, the only Native American veteran of his graduating class.

The eagle staff was originally created by Trudell Guerue, class of 1974, a member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation and a veteran of the Vietnam War. Guerue attended Dartmouth after serving in the U.S. Army Airborne. He created the staff to honor 21 Dartmouth students who died in Vietnam.

Guerue, who was wounded in combat, presented the eagle staff to the Native Americans at Dartmouth organization and ever since, it has been presented during Dartmouth’s annual powwow. The staff includes eagle feathers sheathed with the Vietnam Service Ribbon as well as 21 Purple Heart Ribbons to honor the Dartmouth students who died in the war.

Eagle staffs are significant for many tribes. The eagle staff is brought into events like powwows or other gatherings, alongside the flag of the United States. They can also represent sovereignty, unity and honor among Native veterans.

Dartmouth’s Indigenous history

Dartmouth is located on the ancestral and unceded lands of the Abenaki people. Dartmouth College was founded in 1769 for the purpose of providing a liberal arts education to Native Americans. However, over two centuries, the school drifted away from its intended purpose. In 1970, Dartmouth refocused its efforts and founded the Department of Native American and Indigenous Studies in 1972. In 2016, Dartmouth began including the eagle staff in its graduation ceremonies.

Dartmouth College also includes a wampum belt in its graduation ceremonies. The belt was given to the college by the Mohegan Tribe in 2022, when Dartmouth formally repatriated the papers of Samson Occom, one of Dartmouth’s founders, to the Mohegan. The belt symbolizes Dartmouth’s relationship with the tribe and its charter commitment to educating Native and Indigenous students.

Representing Native veterans

Osburn was surprised but proud to learn he had been selected for the honor.

“I was surprised to hear that it was even part of the ceremony, and I was even more surprised to see that they selected me for it,” he said.

He had the chance to carry the eagle staff during the graduation rehearsal the day before, which gave him a chance to reflect on the honor.

“The role of the eagle staff in our graduation ceremony was representing the veteran community of Dartmouth and the Native American community of Dartmouth,” Osburn said. “The veteran group is smaller and tighter knit, and that’s who I spent most of my time with. It was an honor, and I’m glad that I got to do it.”

Osburn has served with the Oklahoma Army National Guard for seven years and was even deployed to Djibouti, Africa. The term of his contract was completed at almost the same time as his college graduation, marking a new phase of his life.

As a sergeant, he supervised a team within the Army National Guard transport.

“My job title was a motor transport operator. I was responsible for three or four individuals, in a leadership role with them, guiding them. My role was to give them the guidelines to be better soldiers, ensuring that they’re ready and prepared,” he said.

Osburn originally applied to attend Dartmouth through the QuestBridge program that connects high-achieving students to transformative opportunities like full, four-year scholarships and waiving expensive college application fees.

“That was always attractive to me because I didn’t have the money to pay these crazy application fees. QuestBridge partners with a select number of colleges across the country, and there are only three Ivy Leagues that they’re partnered with, so I just went ahead and applied to those three (schools). I figured it was worth a shot,” Osburn said.

After earning a degree in computer science from Dartmouth College, Osburn is now planning to find a job within his field. He returned to Oklahoma after graduation and spent time with family and then completed his final stint with the National Guard.

Osburn said he’s proud to be part of a long tradition of Potawatomi veterans who have represented their heritage all across the United States, adding Dartmouth College’s graduation to that list.

For more information visit Dartmouth College’s website.