The American Indian Association of Illinois (AIAI) is an educational non-profit that provides an accredited 4 year college degree initiative through the Medicine Shield College Program and Eastern Illinois University. AIAI celebrates American Indian culture, language and tradition, throughout its programs and services. AIAI is supporting Native excellence one success story at a time.

AIAI provides scholarships, tutoring and other support for American Indian students, through the Native Scholars Academic Program, the AIAI Adult Learning Center. AIAI also offers cultural celebration and preservation activities through the Chicago American Indian Mueseum, Barclaw Multimedia and the Black Hawk Performance Company. Teaching and learning Native languages is an essential part of AIAI. The Thunder Spirit Institute, provides economic development educational activities as part of the AIAI vision. AIAI was founded in 2007 by Dr. Dorene Wiese.