Volume 19 Fall 2007 Issue No. 1

In This Issue:
Tribal College Students Today

VOLUME 19, NO. 1

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ON CAMPUS

Historic ND Legislation Helps Pay Student Costs

SMILES OF SUCCESS

SMILES OF SUCCESS. Five of the proponents of the historic North Dakota state funding law were on hand at the North Dakota State Legislature in April, from left: Sitting Bull College President Dr. Laurel Vermillion; Tom Disselhorst, legal counsel, and David M. Gipp, president, both of United Tribes Technical College; Chad Kramer, research analyst, ND Indian Affairs Commission; and ND Association of Tribal Colleges Executive Director Phyllis Howard. Photo by Dennis Neumann

North Dakota legislators voted for the first time to provide state funds for non-Indian students attending the five tribal colleges in the state. The Montana Legislature this year doubled the amount of funds it provides for such students.

The North Dakota law authorizes an appropriation of $700,000 over two years to help pay educational costs for non-beneficiary students. Non-Indian students do not benefit from the federal institutional funding for tribal colleges, which is provided only for Indian students. In North Dakota, the non-beneficiaries total about 7% of the approximate 2,600 students attending tribal colleges there.

For nearly 40 years, tribal colleges have been subsidizing the education of non-Indian students. “They're members of our community, so they can come to our college,” said Dr. Cynthia Lindquist Mala, president of Cankdeska Cikana Community College ( Fort Totten, ND). “We don't discriminate.”

Nationwide, about 20% of today’s tribal college students are classified as non-beneficiary, according to the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC). Funding for these students is derived primarily from tuition. This places a tremendous burden on the already cash-strapped colleges.

Of the 13 states with tribal colleges, only two – Montana, and Nebraska – help defray the costs of educating non-beneficiary students. A few other states have provided tribal colleges with some funding for purposes such as construction and work-based learning, but most states do not help support education by tribal colleges within their boundaries.

South Dakota is among the states that do not support non-beneficiaries at tribal colleges, despite repeated efforts, says Thomas H. Shortbull (Oglala), president of Oglala Lakota College and a former state senator. “Tribal colleges do the same thing for non-Natives as for Indians; they provide valuable career training and keep people off public assistance,” he says.

Education at a tribal college for non-Native students is “an awfully good deal for states,” says Dr. Joseph F. McDonald (Salish/Kootenai), president of Salish Kootenai College ( Pablo, MT). Montana now provides a maximum of $3,024 each year for each full-time equivalent student. The North Dakota law will provide approximately $2,000 per year per student, which is less than half of what the state spends to support college students in the North Dakota university system.

Non-Indians attend tribal colleges for a variety of reasons. Some are married to tribal members. Others are local farmers, ranchers, and other community members who want to attend college but have strong ties to the area, says Dr. Laurel Vermillion, president of Sitting Bull College (SBC, Fort Yates, ND).

Jim Kasper, a Republican lawmaker who sponsored the tribal college funding bill in North Dakota, said, “A lot of these people would not go to college if they didn't go to a tribal college first. I think it's an issue of fairness.” The tribal colleges have asked the North Dakota Legislature for such action many times in the past, but this year the state had a projected $527 million surplus.

In addition to Lindquist Mala and Vermillion, the other tribal college leaders who pushed for the legislation are: Dr. Jim Davis, president of the North Dakota Association of Tribal Colleges and president of Turtle Mountain CommunityCollege, Belcourt, ND; David M. Gipp, president of United Tribes Technical College (UTTC, Bismarck, ND); and Russell Mason, Jr., president of Fort Berthold Community College, New Town, ND.

For more information contact Phyllis Howard, executive director, North Dakota Association of Tribal Colleges at (701) 223-4100 or phyllis@ndatc.org, www.ndatc.org

College Fund Names 2007 Students of the Year

The American Indian College Fund has named its top American Indian tribal college students as 2007 “Students of the Year” based on their academic achievements and service to the community.

The fund hosted an awards banquet, sponsored by Coca-Cola, in Rapid City, SD, in March 2007, where each recipient received the prestigious award and was also awarded a scholarship sponsored by the Castle Rock Foundation. Including the Students of the Year, over 200 students were recognized by the fund at the banquet.

American Indian College Fund President Richard B. Williams (Oglala Lakota) and guest speaker Dr. Venida Chenault (Potowatomi), lauded the winning students’ accomplishments.

The Students of the Year represent a variety of tribes and attend tribal colleges and universities throughout the United States. Each student winner is selected by his or her individual tribal college.

The complete list of 2007 Students of the Year follows.

The American Indian College Fund was established in 1989 to increase educational opportunities for Native students. It is based in Denver. In addition to distributing scholarships to students attending tribal colleges across the country, the College Fund also supports endowments, developmental needs, and public awareness for the tribal colleges. 

For more information, see www.collegefund.org

Tribal Colleges Announce Presidents’ Transitions

Several tribal colleges have named new presidents within the last 14 months. The appointments include several tribal college veterans and two graduates of the leadership development program sponsored by the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) and funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

Most recently, the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA, Santa Fe, NM) named Robert Martin, Ed.D., as president in May 2007. He served as president of Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI, Albuquerque, NM) from 1981-1989. For 10 years, he was president at Haskell Indian Nations University ( Lawrence, KS) from 1989-1999. For four years, Martin (Cherokee) served as president of Tohono O’odham Community College from 2001-2005. Most recently, he has been associate head of the American Indian Studies Programs at the University of Arizona. 

Georgianna Tiger was named president at Little Priest Tribal College (Winnebago, NE). Her appointment was announced at the March 2007 AIHEC board meeting. In the early 1990s she was executive director of AIHEC.

Early this year, Sisseton Wahpeton College named Diana Canku, a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Lakota Tribe, as president. She was previously chief administrative officer at the college. Canku participated in the AIHEC Leadership Development Program.

In June 2006, Jeffrey Hamley, Ed.D., was named as president of SIPI. An enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Hamley previously served as president of Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College in Michigan, academic dean at IAIA in New Mexico, extension dean at Northwest Indian College in Washington, and policy analyst for AIHEC. He received his Doctorate of Education from Harvard University.

Also in June, Elmer Guy was named president of the Crownpoint Institute of Technology (now Navajo Technical College) in Crownpoint, NM. Guy (Navajo) graduated from the AIHEC Leadership Program. He had worked at the college for 7 years, serving as acting president, vice president of academic and student services, and dean of instruction. He earned his Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Administration from the University of San Francisco and is presently a doctoral candidate at the University of Arizona.

Of the 35 tribal colleges, nearly half of the presidents (16) are women compared with 19 men. In other news, Dr. Cassandra Manuelito-Kerkvliet, the first female president of Diné College, was chosen to be president of Antioch University Seattle last April. Manuelito-Kerkvliet (Navajo) is believed to be the first American Indian woman to serve as president of an accredited university outside the tribal college system.

26th AIHEC Conference Honors Winning Students

2007 STUDENT CONGRESS OFFICERS
2007 Student Congress officers. Standing, from left: Elijah Hopkins, Kelley Mitchell, Marcus Largo, Vincent Townsend, Orlando Avery; Seated, from left: Desirea Lisa LaMotte, Maria Gibbons, Randy Elliott, and Karl Duncan. Photo by Mary Annette Pember

The tribal colleges in South Dakota hosted the 26th Annual American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) Student Conference in Rapid City, SD, in March 2007. Various student competitions culminated in nearly 200 students receiving awards in a 3-hour ceremony. The results are posted on the Oglala Lakota College (OLC, Kyle, SD) website, www.olc.edu (Click on special projects/aihec).

Tanya Sharpfish of OLC was selected as Ms. AIHEC and Elijah Hopkins of Fort Peck Community College (FPCC, Poplar, MT) as Mr. AIHEC; the two serve as ambassadors for the organization. The annual competition recognizes outstanding tribal college students based upon their academic records, cultural involvement, personal vision, and community service.

The AIHEC Student Congress officers elected at the March meeting will serve until the spring conference in 2008. They are President Vincent Townsend (Haskell Indian Nations University), Vice President Karl Duncan (Institute of American Indian Arts, IAIA), Secretary Desirea Lisa LaMotte (Diné College, DC), Treasurer Marcus Largo (DC), Sergeant at Arms Orlando Avery (OLC), Historian Elijah Hopkins (FPCC), Southwestern Regional Representative Kelley Mitchell (IAIA), Mountain/Pacific Regional Representative Randy Elliott (Northwest Indian College), Midwest Regional Representative Maria Gibbons (OLC), and Great Lakes Regional Representative Deloris Cobb (College of Menominee Nation).

For more information, see http://asc.aih ec.org

Blackfeet CC Alumnus Saves Child from Choking

Gaylene DuCharme of Blackfeet Community College (BCC, Browning, MT) declared, “We have a hero among us” in her email about Chico Reyes (Blackfeet) who saved a child's life in January 2007.

Reyes’s heroic action was heralded in a letter printed in the Glacier Reporter. The Quinn family’s letter recounts how their 5-year-old son choked on chicken nuggets as they drove down a highway. Stopping on the side of the road, the child’s father attempted to help his son, while the mother frantically flagged down passersby as the boy lost consciousness.

Reyes, 25, a stranger to the family, stopped, quickly performed CPR and helped their son regain his consciousness.

The letter stated, “The hero held my child close to his body in such a comforting way, like he had done this many times before… To show our appreciation, we offered a variety of things, including money, which he refused.”

Reyes was on his way home from National Guard duty; he is a 2006 graduate of the BCC Early Childhood Education program and works as a tribal Head Start teacher.

The Quinns said, “His students and their parents and his coworkers are very lucky to have this outstanding person on a day-to-day basis. To his employers, award him for staying proficient in his duties, above and beyond. To the people of your community, congratulate him for a job well done. To his mother, you did a great job at raising him; thank you.

And finally, to you Chico Reyes, thank you for your services both civilian and military. You have our family’s support indefinitely. We will always remember you for what you did for us.”

Reyes credits both his military and early childhood education training with his CPR training. He states, “I’m always willing to help.”

Angela Johnson, BCC staff member, says, “ Chico really is an inspiration and a role model for our students.” He is also a three-time martial arts champion who plans to become a child psychologist one day.

FBC Uses Education To Fight Bacteria, Disease

Fort Belknap College (FBC, Harlem, MT) faculty and students are learning about and responding to pollutants within human bodies as well as about bacterial infection, H. pylori, which has surfaced on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.

Students in the college’s Allied Health program participated in a special topics workshop that focused on the rise of toxic substances found in our blood, in our homes, and in our environment.

They learned about the types of plastics in use today and the health risks associated with them. Using the code on a container or wrapper, students identified the “good plastics” (1 PETE, 2 HDPE, 4LDPE, and 5PP) and “bad plastics” (3 PVC OR V, 6PS and often 7OTHER).

They also learned about other toxic chemicals such as PBDEs, PFAs, phthalates, PCBs, bisphenols and heavy metals, which inadvertently infiltrate our bodies and can be measured in the blood. Most importantly, the students learned how to avoid many of these chemicals.

The students have presented this information on the air via the college radio station, KGVA. They also made available the Smart Plastics Guide: Healthier Food Uses of Plastics, published by the Institute for Agriculture and TradePolicy’s Food and Health Program.

The college faculty is also involved in helping to educate the community to prevent a further increase in H. pylori, a bacterium implicated in more than 90% of duodenal ulcers and 80% of gastric ulcers (Centers for Disease Control, CDC).

Faculty members Dan Kinsey, Donna Young, and Bill Bell are working in collaboration with Rocky Mountain College ( Billings, MT), Montana State University-Bozeman, the Indian Health Service, Fort Belknap Tribal Health Department, and other Montana tribal colleges to address this important environmental health issue.

The collaborators want to determine how people get infected with H. pylori and what they can do to prevent infection. According to the CDC, the source of H. Pylori is not yet known, but hand washing, proper food preparation, and safe drinking water is being recommended to avoid it.

They will also continue to investigate the routes of transmission and all known or newly determined prevention measures with the intent of decreasing the incidence of H. pylori in local communities. Both students and faculty are improving the health of the surrounding communities through the power of education.

CNC, Oklahoma INBRE Partner for Empowerment

COMANCHE NATION COLLEGE RESEARCH ENTHUSIASTS
RESEARCH ENTHUSIASTS. Comanche Nation College President Dr. Kim Winkelman (right) and Professor LaNeal Pewewardy (left) help science and math students such as Michael W. Harjo-Murrow (center) try their hands at biomedical research.

Comanche Nation College(CNC, Talequah, OK)and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) are collaborating to address the science and math needs of diverse learners.

The grant program is administered through the National Institutes of Health INBRE program (IDeA Network for Biomedical Research Excellence). This program builds state capacity to carry out biomedical research by supporting new faculty, recruiting students into biomedical research careers, and sustaining vital core facilities.

CNC officials say the program fits well with the two guiding principles of a Comanche-centered education: (1) re-traditionalization and (2) empowerment.

The CNC instructors for the classes are Assistant Professor of Science Johnny Poolaw (Delaware-Kiowa-Comanche and Chiricahua Apache) and Assistant Professor of Math LaNeal Pewewardy (Comanche-Kiowa). In addition to the math and science classes they teach, they tutor students.

The grant also enabled CNC to purchase vital science and math-related equipment.

INBRE funds a summer undergraduate research program to expose promising students to research, which Michael W. Harjo-Murrow (Comanche) attended in 2006. A junior at CNC, he is majoring in criminal justice. He researched microscopic DNA from worms, injecting them with fluorescent enzymes associated with polymer chain reactions. The experience used technology to better understand genetic fusing of DNA.

Harjo-Murrow says of his INBRE experience, “Forensics is the area of concentration that interests me the most. I strongly recommend this program to all students.”

Wind River Writers Read Poetry with Non-Indians

Wind River Tribal College sponsored its first open reading of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction in the reservation border town of Lander, WY, last May. The event at the Open Door Café featured readings by 6 people from the local community and 15 students and faculty from the college, which is located 30 miles away in Ethete, WY.

SMILES OF SUCCESS

PERSONAL POETRY. L’Dawn Olsen organized the poetry reading, saying “Our voices are never heard outside the insulated reservation community.” Photo by Sara Wiles

The event was inspired by writing instructor L’Dawn Olsen (Shoshone). “Rarely are personal stories told within Native communities, and voices are never heard outside the insulated reservation community,” she says.

Speaking to a standing-room-only crowd, student Jean Harris (Shoshone) said that before she attended the tribal college, the only times her educators ever mentioned Indians were at the Boston Tea Party, as guides -- like Sacagawea, and as “savage, war-mongers scalping innocent whites.”

She explained that she believed these “…lies and perpetuated them with self-hate and snobbery.” But after reading David Stannard’sAmerican Holocaust and a long internal struggle, she says, “I am proud that I am American Indian and that the true accounts of the history of my Native people are finally being told.”

Ending her piece with a quote by Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace prize winner and survivor of the Jewish Holocaust, her dark eyes looked directly at the audience, “The danger lies in forgetting. Forgetting, however, will not affect only the dead. Should it triumph, the ashes of yesterday will cover our hopes for tomorrow.”

Jean Yellowbear (Arapaho) read a story about her mother dying when she was four and her early days at St. Stephen’s boarding school.

Glenda Washakie (Arapaho) had a lighter theme, speaking of the love in the extended family of Indian tradition.

Hetty Brown (Arapaho) says, “I was soooo scared to get up there and read. I’m glad it’s over, and I’m glad I did it.” April Guina (Shoshone/Arapaho) calls her short story her “baby” because of the labor that went into creating it. Ronnie Moss ( Cheyenne/ Arapaho), who read his poems in a rap beat, says, “It was a real opportunity.”

The response from both Indian and the local community has been favorable. The local public television station wants to broadcast a story about the next reading. Although the students were initially terrified to tell their deeply personal stories, they found the experience “gave them a dose of power,” Olsen says. She hopes to make the readings a bi-annual event.

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