Volume 17 Fall 2005 Issue No. 1
In This Issue
Telling Our Stories
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AIHEC Accepts Comanche College as 36th Member
On April 2, 2005, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) made history by admitting the first tribal college from Oklahoma. Although known as Indian Territory 150 years ago, Oklahoma has not had a tribal college until now.
The AIHEC Board of Directors voted to accept the new college as an “applicant member” after sending a team to visit the college to determine its eligibility. To become a member of AIHEC, a college must meet several criteria. It must be chartered by a tribal government, governed by Native Americans, and have a majority of Native American students. To become a full member, it must be accredited or a candidate for accreditation.
The Comanche Nation Business Committee chartered the college in August 2002, and the Comanche Nation College opened its doors that fall. Since then it has been developing its curriculum, catalog, and educational plan. Located in Lawton, OK, the college now has 260 full-time-equivalent students.
The president of the college is Colin “Kim” Winkelman, Ph.D., and he is an Oglala Lakota. Charles Tippeconnic (Comanche) serves as the director of development and grants and Hadassah Cohen (Lakota) as the dean of academics.
Chartered in 1973 by six tribal colleges, AIHEC now has 35 members in 12 states plus one member college in Canada. The board of directors is composed of the presidents of those 36 tribal colleges and universities. The organization’s headquarters is in Alexandria, VA.
For more information about the Comanche Nation College, call (580) 591-0203.
Graduate Numbers Prove Stone Child’s Success
Twenty-five years ago, only one or two Chippewa Cree college students from the Rocky Boys’ Indian Reservation graduated from college each year. Parents and educators were mystified. They knew that their students were intelligent, dedicated, and responsible. Many students left the reservation in north-central Montana to attend college. Why were they dropping out and not graduating?
This spring, reservation parents’ and educators’ faith is being vindicated. A total of 53 people from the reservation are receiving degrees ranging from associate to doctoral. Thirty-four students are receiving associate degrees, 13 bachelor’s degrees, 5 master’s degrees, and 1 a doctorate.
Two-thirds of those people will be graduating from the tribal college, Stone Child College, a fully accredited two-year institution. Presiding at the Stone Child graduation exercises on May 6 was one of the college’s success stories. Melody Henry graduated from Stone Child and went on to receive her bachelor’s and her master’s degree at Montana State University-Northern. Today she is the college president.
“We are delighted to have so many of our people graduating from college and moving forward with their education and their careers,” says Henry.
The credit for the educational transformation belongs to the Chippewa Cree Tribal Council, according to tribal college officials. In 1980, the tribal council took over the higher education program from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
Ed Stamper, director of foundations and research at Stone Child College, says that when the BIA ran the higher education program prior to the 1980s, formal education wasn’t really a priority for either the bureau or for the community. Many of the parents had attended boarding schools where they experienced physical abuse for violations such as using their own language, says Stamper, a tribal member who has been involved in tribal higher education since 1981. Their experiences tainted their attitude toward education.
When the tribe took over education, the administrators were tribal members who had more direct ties to the students and thus felt more commitment to their success, Stamper says. Over the years, they took several significant steps that led to today’s remarkable graduation statistics.
The council created the Chippewa Cree Tribal Education Department in 1980. By 1982, the department was administering a few U.S. Department of Education grants and the adult vocational training program, which provided financial assistance to tribal members attending a vocational or trade school of their choice.
On May 17, 1984, the Chippewa Cree Tribal Council chartered Stone Child College, the 24th tribal college in the United States. The tribal college began administering the tribal higher education department on behalf of the tribe. When the tribal council created and funded a graduate scholarship program and a natural resources scholarship program in 2001, the tribal college administered those programs as well.
Stamper says that tribal officials feel more ownership in education than the BIA felt 25 years ago, and his statement seems to be verified by his and the college president’s familiarity with each of the 53 graduates. Thirty-four are receiving associate degrees from their college, and six of their faculty and staff are receiving degrees.
The other 13 are attending other universities or colleges across the United States utilizing one of the higher education programs administered by the tribal college. Stamper said that four of the 53 are non-Indian, and all but nine of the 53 were raised on the Rocky Boys’ Indian Reservation.
Over the past 20 years, Stone Child College has graduated 406 students on a relatively small reservation (about 3,000 residents). “These graduates are becoming the leaders in our community,” according to Stamper.
AIHEC Student Congress Plans 20th Anniversary
 AIHEC STUDENT CONGRESS OFFICERS. Elected at the April 2005 AIHEC conference, the new officers are (top row): Landon Lafromboise, Sara Marie Ortiz, and Warren Eagle; (middle row): Brenda Wounded Arrow, Zannita Fast Horse, and Tristan Ahtone; (bottom row): Aaire Madplume, Kimberly Killer, Michele Vecenti-Spencer (co-advisor), Jeff Quintana, and Julian Many Hides. Not pictured is the other co-advisor, Juan Perez. |
The new officers of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) Student Congress met May 24-25 in Rapid City, SD, and began planning their 20 th anniversary celebration for spring 2006. Established in 1986, the student congress represents tribal college and university students.
At the AIHEC Conference in April 2005, the students elected Zannita Fast Horse as their new president. Fast Horse is a student at Oglala Lakota College (OLC, Kyle, SD). In other election results, Tristan Ahtone of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA, Santa Fe, NM) will serve as vice president; Warren Eagle of OLC will serve as secretary; Kimberly Killer of OLC is treasurer; Brenda Wounded Arrow of OLC is sergeant at arms; and Jeff Quintana of OLC is historian.
For the first time, the students elected regional representatives. The four regional reps are designed to improve communications by serving as liaisons between the colleges in their regions and the national student organization.
Landon Lafromboise of Sisseton Wahpeton College (SWC, Sisseton, SD)serves as the Midwest regional representative, Sara Marie Ortiz of the Institute of American Indian Arts as the Southwest regional representative, and Aaire Madplume of Blackfeet Community College (BCC, Browning, MT) as the Mountain/Pacific regional representative.
Since no one was elected from the Great Lakes region, Julian Many Hides of Salish Kootenai College (SKC, Pablo, MT)has volunteered to serve as the liaison in an interim capacity.
At their meeting in Rapid City, the student officers set some ambitious goals for themselves, including standardizing the rules for student competitions at the annual conference, setting up a film festival, filming a documentary on the student congress, setting up a website and a newsletter, working on the constitution and bylaws and archives, and including Mr. and Ms. AIHEC in student congress activities.
The co-advisors of the student congress are Michele Vecenti-Spencer of Diné College (Tsaile, AZ)and Juan Perez of Salish Kootenai College.
Poet’s Words Appeal To Prevent Suicide
Lexi Luger was busy with her studies at Sitting Bull College (SBC, Fort Yates, ND) and with planning her future, as most 20-year-olds. But then several young people committed suicide on the local reservations last year. With her heritage (Turtle Mountain Chippewa and Cheyenne River Sioux), she felt she needed to do something and asked herself, “What could I say on a personal level to speak to kids?”
The word “reservation” kept popping into her head. Within an hour and a half, she had written a poem filled with rhythmic, rhyming, upbeat advice about conquering desperation, drugs, and alcohol and focusing upon healthy living, heritage, and family.
Called “Mitakuye Oyasin” (We are all related), the poem is in the slam poetry style, also known as Def Jam style. It is a performance art, and Luger’s delivery quickly grabbed attention.
After winning a speech competition at the American Indian Higher Education Consortium Conference in Albuquerque in April, she was invited to deliver it at another Indian education conference the following week before 600 people, at the SBC graduation, and at the University of North Dakota’s honoring for Native students in May. In July, she presented it to a teachers’ conference in Bismarck.
Luger maintained a 3.7 GPA while at SBC, and now she has been accepted at an acting school, Chicago’s Second City, in the acting improv school. She hopes to be an actress, but she has a back-up plan: studying political science and communications.
Mitakuye Oyasin by Lexi Luger Here's a little observation Lexi Luger is a student at Sitting Bull College, Fort Yates, ND.
She presented this poem at the National Conference on Indian Education
on April 6-7, 2005 in Santa Ana Pueblo, NM. |
Sinte Gleska Develops Master’s in Management
Dreams of obtaining higher education don’t just stop at a bachelor’s degree anymore on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. Thanks to the demands of a more complex society and higher standards of living, Rosebud tribal members are seeking more education to gain better paying jobs and greater influence over their personal destinies.
In response, faculty and staff at Sinte Gleska University (SGU, Rosebud, SD) are developing a master’s degree in management to train those ambitious students who cannot afford to leave the reservation for extended time periods to obtain the degree elsewhere.
The degree will train students to develop businesses, obtain leadership positions, and improve current programs on or off the reservation. Because it is a multi-disciplinary degree with a multi-cultural focus, the steering committee envisions recruiting students specializing in almost any subject area.
The new degree is the logical next step in the growth of the university and the tribal nation, according to Schuyler Houser, director of special projects at the Scott Bordeaux Leadership Institute at SGU. In its 35-year history, Sinte Gleska University has become accredited to offer master’s degrees in education and in human services, as well as 35 bachelor’s and associate degree areas. The result has been the growth of a highly educated workforce on the Rosebud and expansion of services and community growth.
“We have worked hard over the past 30 years to provide the training needed to sustain the workforce on the reservation, but now it’s time to look to a future where our people are in those management positions, shaping the future of our tribal nation,” said Lionel Bordeaux (Sicangu Lakota), president of Sinte Gleska University. “This way we ensure that the Sicangu Lakota Oyate will be here 100 to 200 years from now.”
The pilot course for the new degree will be a class in leadership taught by Houser and former Rosebud Tribal Education Director Sherry Red Owl Neiss. It will be offered in fall 2005. SGU is conducting a needs assessment and organizing an advisory board of local business leaders, tribal program leaders, and other community members.
The new degree will have to be approved by the regional accrediting agency, the Higher Learning Commission, within the next few years. The university hopes to award diplomas to its first group of management graduates by 2008.
Munz Brings Sky World Indoors at Bay Mills
Visitors, students, and faculty at Bay Mills Community College (BMCC, Brimley, MI) are reminded of the Ojibwe culture and symbols – and of the talent of their students – every time they enter the college building.
 ANISHINAABE ARTIST. After the tribal college re-connected Casey Munz with her culture, she reciprocated by painting these cultural representations for future students. Photo by Selina Vert |
Casey Munz, 29, spent several weeks painting a mural on the ceiling and then continuing the theme down the hallways of the new Mikanuk Hall (mikanuk means turtle).
After studying the building’s architecture, she decided to use the four hallways to depict directions. In traditional Anishinaabe culture, the four directions have four colors associated with them: black for the west, white for the north, yellow for the east, and red for the south.
Where the hallways come together, she painted a mural on the ceiling that represents the sky world, including day and night and lightning symbols, which represent the thunders talking. To Munz, the lightning symbolizes the spirits – the grandfathers who inhabit the four directions.
Onlookers asked a lot of questions while she worked. People were particularly concerned about the black lines down the west hallway. “They didn’t realize there would be florals (traditional woodland designs) with the black,” she says. Munz credits her mother, Becky Munz, for helping with the art.
She feels indebted to the college for re-connecting her to her people. She grew up in Wisconsin and visited the reservation only during the summers. When her parents returned to the reservation, she followed them and enrolled in several classes, such as Native American literature and film, which she refers to as “building-your-character type classes.”
Munz enrolled in the tribal college’s renowned summer language program. “The language program was instrumental in my life. When you learn the language, you learn a lot more about yourself and your community and how you fit into that.”
After graduating from Lake Superior State University with a bachelor’s degree in political science, she returned to the reservation where she works at the casino as the player development manager, organizing special events and parties for the players. The college hired her to do the mural.
“Bay Mills Community College is a great school. I am sure they have changed a lot of people’s lives. They are the center of the community.”
SIPI Produces CD for Native Entrepreneurs
Anew CD aims to train Native entrepreneurs in starting, developing, and maintaining their own businesses. Called CD Business Tool, the product is a cooperative effort of Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI, Albuquerque, NM) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Native American Affairs, as part of their “Empowering Tribal Communities: One Entrepreneur at a Time” small business training program.
The CD has four modules that cover business basics, planning, marketing, and financial and legal matters. SIPI SBA Project Director Lester Kevin Tsosie (Navajo), MPA, MBA, says Native entrepreneurs from many tribes were consulted and then showcased on the CD.
With funding from SBA, SIPI had previously developed a culturally-relevant, small business training program to deliver at 100 different locations.
By interacting with Native entrepreneurs from many tribes, the team integrated different elements of training and learning into the multi-media CD. An entrepreneur can use this CD to learn about starting, developing, and maintaining a business through the training modules, create a business plan, or identify resources for his or her business. The CD also showcases successful Native business owners.
“We hope that by providing business tools like the CD Business Tool, we empower tribal communities to develop sustaining economies that enhance quality of life for all tribal members,” Tsosie says.
For more information on the SIPI SBA project and CD, contact the SIPI SBA Project, P.O. Box 10146, Albuquerque, NM 87184; call (505) 922-4085, or visit the project website at www.sipi.bia.edu/outreach/outprog/sba.
Cuny Names Ms. AIHEC, Decoteau as Mr. AIHEC
Two students were selected as Mr. and Ms. AIHEC at the annual American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) Conference last April in Albuquerque, NM. Darell Decoteau (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate), 39, is a student at Sisseton Wahpeton College (Sisseton, SD). Lynn M. Cuny (Hunkpati Dakota and Oglala Lakota), 26, is a senior at Oglala Lakota College (OLC, Kyle, SD).
 MR. AND MS. AIHEC: Darell Decoteau and Lynn M. Cuny. |
Decoteau has been serving South Dakota’s Lake Traverse Reservation in one capacity or another for the past 15 years. He spent seven years in local law enforcement, where he brought the DARE program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and the McGruff crime prevention program to tribal, boarding, and public schools. He spent five years with the Dakota Nation Gaming Enterprise, and most recently he served as investigator with the Child Protection Program. He has also been a mentor in education programs and a volunteer with the YouthBuild Program.
Decoteau would like to teach elementary school on the reservation. He is also working on a second degree in Dakota studies. He aspires to become a positive role model for children.
“My grandmother said that you should not talk about yourself, it was impolite,” Decoteau said. “So I try to live a good life and let my actions speak for me.”
Cuny holds associate’s degrees in fine arts, Lakota studies, and early education and will soon complete her bachelor’s degree in Lakota studies with a 4.0 grade-point average. Her Lakota name means “She helps her people.”
“To me education comes first,” Cuny said. “My long term goals include obtaining my master’s degree, creating art, writing children’s books, and designing clothing. I would like to say thank you to AIHEC for this opportunity to promote quality education.”
L.A. Gadugi Celebration Raises College Funds
 HEART OF RENAISSANCE. Wes Studi, who served as master of ceremonies, said, “At the very heart of this renaissance is the tribal college movement.” On his right is Kickapoo singer Arigon Starr, and his niece, Delanna Studi, is on his left. Photo by Dan Steinberg |
Celebrities and supporters of American Indian education came out in large numbers last May in Los Angeles for the American Indian College
Fund’s Gadugi Celebration. (Loosely translated, gadugi is Cherokee for “coming together to help the community.”) Several members of the TNT miniseries Into the West cast attended, including Matthew Settle, Gary Busey, Tonantzin Carmelo, Rod Rondeaux, Zahn McClarnon, and Wes Studi, who served as master of ceremonies for the evening.
“Today, barriers that once prevented Indian people from accessing higher education are being broken down. Communities are being revitalized. Indian people are becoming more empowered every day. And at the very heart of this renaissance is the tribal college movement,” Studi said.
The event raised $90,000 for scholarships for American Indian students attending the nation’s tribal colleges and universities. It featured performances from several Native dance groups, Kickapoo singer Arigon Starr, and headliner R. Carlos Nakai.
Because of the support of event sponsors Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A,, Inc. and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, 100% of the evening’s proceeds will go directly to scholarships.
Gadugi Celebration guest of honor Wilma Mankiller stated, “The American Indian College Fund event in southern California was a wonderful mix of serious dialogue about Indian education interspersed with cultural presentations. A number of new and long-term supporters spoke about the important role tribal colleges play in the rebuilding of our nations. It is my hope that the California tribes will continue to support the American Indian College Fund and tribal college movement.”
Established in 1989, the American Indian College Fund is the nation’s largest provider of private scholarships for American Indian students.
Comanche College To Sponsor Film Festival
The Second Annual Comanche Nation College Invitational Film Festival is planned for Saturday, Sept. 17, 2005, the week beforethe Annual Comanche Nation Fair.
The first film festival drew 121 attendees from the greater Lawton-Fort Sill community in Oklahoma. Filmmakers were predominately Comanche; however, other tribes included Kiowa, Cree, Arapaho, Otoe Missouria, and Creek.
The festival was the dream of Comanche Nation College instructor Juanita Pahdopony and documentary filmmaker Annette Arkeketa. They pulled it together without funding but with the rich talents and available resources within the college and the community.
“Filmmaking is a natural extension of the rich southern plains oral tradition—it can weave the viewer into a narration through visual storytelling,” Pahdopony says.
For more information, email Pahdopony@aol.com or call (580) 591-0203.
 CATCH A FALLING BILL. TCJ Marketing Director Rachael Marchbanks participated in the annual money booth at the Southern Ute Tribe’s Casino along with 14 other selected non-profit organizations in the area. TCJ received $1,100, which will be used to give free subscriptions to Native high school students in the Southwest. |
BCC Instructor Conducts Student Retention Study
Research by Sam Thornton of Blackfeet Community College (BCC, Browning, MT) disputes some widely held assumptions about student retention -- that students won’t attend 8 a.m. classes or Friday classes.
“There’s no significant difference in success based on class times or days or any other factors I have examined,” says Thornton, based upon preliminary results from his study. These results seem to indicate that students’ success is influenced more by individual motivations and are more personal in nature.
Organizational factors may not play as large of a role as previously thought. Thornton, who is working toward his master’s in education through Montana State University, developed the idea for this retention thesis project during his first master’s level course. He had an assignment that required him to survey students, but on the day of the survey only three attended class. He realized that before he could be a successful classroom instructor, students had to be present. Hence, his thesis project was born.
The study includes student surveys and baseline data from the college registrar’s records. Now Thornton is attempting to identify at-risk students by assessing personality, distance from campus, transportation, and family situation as well as demographic data such as age and gender.
Using the study, BCC could ask incoming students about issues that could prevent their attendance, like transportation and day care. “If we can identify at-risk students, we can intervene early,” Thornton said. He is excited about the findings and believes some of the results might be extrapolated to other tribal colleges as well.
Thornton is obtaining his master’s with support from the Archibald Bush Foundation, which has provided support for several other BCC instructors seeking advanced degrees, including Dee Hall, Jim Peterson, Keith Tatsey, Mike LaFromboise, Jack Vaile, Elsie Ground, Leona Skunk Cap, Angela Johnson, and Matthew Johnson.
For more information, contact Colleen O’Brien at Blackfeet Community College, (406) 338-5441 ext. 501, or email colleen_obrien@bfcc.org.
 STUDENTS OF THE YEAR. The American Indian College Fund and the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) have named 34 top American Indian tribal college students as 2005 Students of the Year based on their academic achievements and service to the community. Each received a $1,000 scholarship sponsored by the Castle Rock Foundation. Back row (left to right) Eltina Three Stars (Oglala Lakota College), Kia Lanza (Fort Berthold Community College), Kendall Graywater (Cankdeska Cikana Community College), Jenny Markwardt (Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College), Shannon Northbird (Leech Lake Tribal College), Rutherford Small Eyes (Red Crow Community College), Kerry Stewart (Little Big Horn College), Daniel Miguel (Tohono O'odham Community College), Frankie Kipp (Blackfeet Community College), Joseph Claunch (Haskell Indian Nations University), and Tanya Parker (Sinte Gleska University). Also pictured is Iris Heavy Runner (Mellon Fellow). Front row (left to right) Sarah Yazzie (Crownpoint Institute of Technology), Catherine Racette (Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College), Devin Wertman (Chief Dull Knife College), Orlando Cariaga (Nebraska Indian Community College ), Amanda Hicks (Turtle Mountain Community College), Circe Luttrell (Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute), Jessica Roney (Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College), Ronald Guerrero (Fort Belknap College), and Joey Awonohopay (College of Menominee Nation). Not pictured are Fanaye Lynette Litson (Diné College), Jeffery Gaus (Bay Mills Community College), Adrianne Levy (White Earth Tribal and Community College), Gaydella Brunelle (Fort Peck Community College), Elizabeth Lodge Pole (Stone Child College), Karla Daniels (Little Priest Tribal College), Deleana Lynn Otherbull (Institute of American Indian Arts), Jade Ducheneaux (Sitting Bull College), Todd Trottier (United Tribes Technical College), Logan Demaray-Bacho (Si Tanka University), SavannahSioux Greseth (Sisseton Wahpeton College), La Belle Urbanec (Northwest Indian College, Marilyn J. Ramsburg (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College), and Deidra Mountain Sheep (Salish Kootenai College). |
His Horse Is Thunder Elected to HLC Board
Member colleges have elected Ron His Horse Is Thunder to
serve on the board of trustees of the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
The commission is part of the North Central Association of Colleges
and Schools, which is one of six regional institutional accrediting
associations in the United States. The HLC region includes 19 states and
many tribal nations.
As the president of Sitting Bull College (SBC, Fort Yates, ND), His Horse Is Thunder is the first tribal college president to serve on the board. His term runs from September 2004 through August 2008. The board makes policies and helps provide national leadership on matters germane to regional accreditation.
A member of the Hunkpapa band of the Lakota Sioux Nation, His Horse Is Thunder is a graduate of the University of South Dakota Law School. Prior to earning the law degree, he received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Black Hills State University and studied at SBC. His Horse Is Thunder was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as chairman of the President’s Board of Advisors on Tribal Colleges and Universities.
Montileaux Featured On UTTC Pow Wow Poster
 FASTER HORSES. Artist Donald F. Montileaux used a Warrant Book from the 1930s to create this drawing for the UTTC Pow Wow poster. |
The red horse and rider are half a length in the lead in a race across ledger page 114. Riders with long black hair streaming, horses in mid-stride, they fly past the handwritten entries of what the treasurer paid from the county general fund in December 1936.
The ledger book art drawing was selected to represent the 36 th Annual United Tribes International Pow Wow in 2005. It comes from modern-day storyteller, artist Donald F. Montileaux (Oglala Lakota).
United Tribes Technical College (UTTC, Bismarck, ND) hopes that Montileaux’s design will appeal to those planning to attend the pow wow September 8-11 on the college campus in Bismarck and to people who collect pow wow mementos. The college produced 6,500 posters to promote the event.
Ledger drawings appeared on the Plains in the 1860s, according to Montileaux. Stories were preserved in drawings on the pages of ledger books acquired from non-Indians. It was easier to use ink, pencil, and watercolors on paper than stick and bone brushes on animal hides, especially as the buffalo disappeared.
Montileaux, age 57, attended college at Spearfish, SD, and is primarily a self-taught artist. He received formal training at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM, and interned with noted artist Oscar Howe at the University of South Dakota. He credits his personal friend and mentor, the late Herman Red Elk, as his primary artistic influence.
The original drawing, “Faster Horses,” goes into the collection of American Indian art at United Tribes, some of which is on display at the college’s Cultural Interpretive Center.
For more information about Montileaux, see his website at www.montileaux.com. For information about the pow wow, call UTTC at (701) 255-3285 or see the website, www.uttc.com.