Cynthia Lindquist

Cynthia A. Lindquist Mala (Dakota: Ta'Sunka Wicahpi Win), also known as Star Horse Woman, is an American educator and academic administrator specializing in Indigenous health and higher education. She is a member of the Spirit Lake Tribe. Lindquist served as the president of Cankdeska Cikana Community College (CCCC) from 2003 to 2024, where she expanded the campus and stabilized its accreditation. In January 2025, she was appointed as the director of Tribal Initiatives & Collaboration for the University of North Dakota (UND).

Early life and education Lindquist was born in Devils Lake, North Dakota, and is an enrolled member of the Spirit Lake Tribe. She is the oldest of 13 children and was raised on the Spirit Lake Reservation, partially by her grandparents, from whom she learned traditional ways. Her mother is Gloria Janet Jetty, who is Dakota, and her father was a Scandinavian police officer. Following her parents' divorce, Lindquist lived off the reservation with her father. She subsequently earned a Master of Public Administration (MPA) with an emphasis on Indian health systems from the University of South Dakota in 1988. In 2006, she completed a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership at the University of North Dakota as a Bush Foundation Leadership Fellow. Her doctoral dissertation was titled "Campus Racial Climate as Perceived by Undergraduate American Indian Students Attending the University of North Dakota."

Cankdeska Cikana Community College In 2003, Lindquist was recruited by two tribal elders to apply for the presidency of Cankdeska Cikana Community College (CCCC) in Fort Totten. Lindquist concluded her presidency at CCCC at the end of August 2024.

Later career On January 21, 2025, Lindquist was named the director of Tribal Initiatives & Collaboration for the University of North Dakota. In this role, she is tasked with building trusting relationships with regional Tribal Nations and Colleges and leading the development of a new university policy regarding consultation with Tribal Nations.

Personal life Lindquist carries two Dakota names. Ta'Sunka Wicahpi Win (Star Horse Woman) was given to her by a Canadian medicine man in recognition of her national work with traditional medicine and the Indian Health Service. Her second name, Hoton Ho Waste Winyan (Good Voice or Good Talk Woman), was the name of her great-grandmother. She embraces both her Dakota and Scandinavian heritage, preparing traditional foods from both cultures. As of 2018, she had three children, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.