It is rare to meet a first-year student who is not eager to leave home, to trade in familiar places and people for the newer, more enticing world Harvard offers.

It is just as rare to encounter one of the University's 120 Native American students, most of whom say they come seeking the best way to bring Harvard back home with them.

The Native American community at Harvard is comprised of students from all nine faculties, including 43 at the College. This group revolves around the Harvard Native American Program (HNAP), whose tremendous growth over the last two decades parallels what many refer to as "a revitalization in Indian Country."

Students say they walk through Harvard's gates first and foremost as representatives of their families and communities, instead of focusing only on the opportunities for personal advancement presented by the University. Commitment to those who await them marks their words.

"Every time I go home I'm reminded I can't get too far away," says Kristen Carpenter, a second-year Law School student whose father is half Cherokee.

Fourth-year Medical School student Patrick W. Linson's quietly determined voice doesn't betray the obstacles he has faced.

From New Mexico, with Taos Pueblo and Navajo roots, Linson matter-of-factly describes the poverty of his youth and the inferior health care Native Americans often receive. Both influenced his decision to attend medical school. Now that he's almost through, he says he is trying to decide how best to use his training here to serve his community.

He speaks with faith in his community, despite frequent reproaches that it has been unable to adapt to the modern era. Critics can wield frightening numbers to back the argument--only 52 percent of Native Americans finish high school and 4 percent graduate from four-year colleges, according to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Statistically speaking, Linson's presence is the exception to the rule.

Despite these discouraging statistics, Annabel Bradford '98 is also optimistic. Like Linson, Bradford says her goals of service are paired with uncertainty about the best way to use a Harvard education to achieve them.

When it comes to Native American issues, she says, "There are a lot of good fights to be fought."

Among the University's Native American students, the consensus holds that Harvard represents one way--and students emphasize that it is only one of many possible ways--to prepare for future fights. According to HNAP Program Coordinator Eileen Egan, "The people who are coming to Harvard are thinking globally."

As they speak of developing their talents to help other Native Americans, however, these students all mention the diversity of the larger community. With members hailing from some 50 tribes across the U.S. and Canada, from rural areas, cities and reservations, from large and small families and from public and private high schools, it becomes clear that no monolithic Native American community exists. Carpenter says this makes the definition of community "nebulous."

And the number of ways to link a Harvard education to social responsibility for such a broad group expands accordingly.

Alex Wilson, a second-year doctoral student from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba, says Native American perspectives are legitimized in academic circles because of their connection with Harvard.

"Some of the people here have really been able to enter academia in a way that a lot of so-called marginalized people haven't," she says. "The thing I like about Harvard is that anything is possible if you can find the right people to help you."

"Harvard is Harvard," Carpenter says. "It carries the most weight in employment. The name is recognized, even in the Indian world."