SweetGrass Trading Company is proud to announce Jocelyn Parker as the 2026 recipient of the Ho-Chunk Trading Group Native Scholarship. A member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, Jocelyn will begin her freshman year at Haskell Indian Nations University this fall, where she plans to major in sociology.
Originally from Winnebago, Jocelyn says her interest in social sciences comes from a lifelong curiosity about people and their stories.
“I’ve always been fascinated by people, specifically their stories about how they came to be,” she said.
Jocelyn said she hopes her education will help her share a broader understanding of Native communities and cultures across the country.
“My long-term goals are to be able to travel around the U.S. and learn about as many different Tribes as possible so I can bring them to the light and show people that Native Americans are not just a single group of people, but that we have different beliefs and languages,” she said.
The Ho-Chunk Trading Group Scholarship was created to help Native students pursue higher education while building brighter futures for themselves and their communities. Jocelyn shared that the scholarship will help support her transition into college and allow her to continue working toward her educational goals.
“This scholarship will help get me started on my new journey of my adult life,” Jocelyn said. “It will help me step closer to getting a degree and becoming as educated as I possibly can be.”
Launched in 2018, the Ho-Chunk Trading Group Native Scholarship awards one $1,250 scholarship each year to an eligible Native college student enrolled in a 4-year college, 2-year community college or technical college.
SweetGrass Trading Company is a member of Ho-Chunk Trading Group, a division of Ho-Chunk, Inc. dedicated to creating economic opportunity for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and supporting Native communities.