Volume 16 Summer 2005 Issue No. 4

In This Issue
International Indigenous Education

IAIA to Build Center For Lifelong Learning

Instead of legal pads and pens, the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) handed out sketch pads and colored pencil sets to participants in a convocation at the tribal college in Santa Fe, NM, last January 2005. More than 60 artists, alumni, faculty, and other community members gathered to contribute their dreams and images for a lifelong learning center.

The W. K. Kellogg Foundation has built 15 lifelong learning centers around the world, but the Achein will be the first to serve American Indians and other indigenous people around the world. Achein is a word in Keres, the language of seven of the Indian pueblos, which signifies a place where knowledge is shared in a spiritual context. Kellogg gave IAIA a $2 million planning grant for the center.

IAIA and most other tribal colleges have always contributed to their communities’ lifelong learning by providing seminars, workshops, and community forums. However, such programs usually serve one-time needs, not an overall vision, and the tribal colleges often much reach deep into their pockets since the lifelong learning often doesn’t fit under the criteria for the federal government’s core institutional funding or grant programs.

In February 2005, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) awarded a $750,000 challenge grant to IAIA for the center. The grant must be matched by IAIA with nonfederal funds on a 3 to 1 basis.

Seven years of planning and visioning have gone into the IAIA center, which is expected to break ground next fall. As a result of a previous community visioning meeting, the center was moved closer to other IAIA buildings so it will be an integral, seamless part of the campus, according to the architect, Paul Fragua (Jemez Pueblo).

Programming will include creative tribal governance and economic development, health care, education, the arts and cultural development, Native research, and cultural studies.

The concept of the Achein Center has been shared with indigenous people, tribes, and organizations throughout the world. Representatives of New Zealand’s indigenous education movement attended an initial planning meeting in summer 2001. Leaders from Siberia’s tribal communities visited IAIA in 2001, and one member of that group agreed to serve on the center’s advisory committee. So far, 19 Native leaders from 14 tribes have agreed to serve on the advisory committee.

IKMS Offers Home For Indigenous Knowledge

by Tom Davis

Little Priest Tribal College (LPTC, Winnebago, NE) is involved in developing one of the more complex partnerships with an international focus. The effort includes the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), the Distributed Systems Technology Center (DSTC) affiliated with the University of Queensland in Australia, several Maori-controlled institutions of higher learning in New Zealand, and one Australian Aborigine community.

The college’s information technology (IT) director, Dar Bales, recently returned from Australia after being trained to install and use the Indigenous Knowledge Management System (IKMS). Little Priest is considered a pilot for other tribal colleges and universities that want to be involved.

The IKMS project stems from discussions between Dr. Jane Hunter, senior computer scientist at the DSTC in Australia, and Jane Sledge, NMAI's information and technology resources manager. Hunter and Sledge discussed how multimedia technologies might allow indigenous groups to record and preserve significant aspects of their cultures, including languages, ceremonies, dances, songs, stories, symbols, design, artwork, tools, costumes, historical photographs, film, videos, and audio tapes.

YOUR ARTIFACT HERE. A screen shot from the IKMS software shows how objects, images, or audio recordings can be shared or not, depending upon the wishes of the community. The file includes “annotation,” “rights,” and “tribal care” sub-menus at the top.

The project will develop an electronic mechanism to control access. This will enable traditional owners to protect sacred or secret knowledge and to receive proper compensation for the intellectual property that they are willing to share.

The IKMS software was designed for use by any community willing to work with NMAI and DSTC to develop the necessary expertise.

Jane Hunter is developing software that will be freely available to indigenous communities and cultural institutions for non-profit, community-focused, or educational programs.

On the Winnebago Reservation, Little Priest Tribal College and the tribe can use the IKMS in conjunction with the log cabin museum, creating three-dimensional images of tribal artifacts. NMAI will work with the Winnebago community to bridge the gap between the people and their Winnebago artifacts held hundreds of miles away in national collections by providing electronic renditions to the local museum.

The tribal college is also working with NMAI to develop a virtual museum that involves young community students in the curation and annotation process. This work will be available to the public in NMAI’s new museum on the Washington, DC, mall.

As part of the project, Little Priest is planning to work with the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium to share information about its community over the internet with participating Maori and Australian communities.

For more information, contact Tom Davis at tom@etheldavisgallery.com or Marty DeMontano at demontanom@ic.si.edu.

NCA Accredits 3 More UTTC Online Degrees

United Tribes Technical College (UTTC, Bismarck, ND) has received accreditation to offer three additional associate degree programs online, expanding the college’s online degrees to five. The new online degree programs are Health Information Technology, Elementary Education, and Nutrition and Food Service.

“The training provided in these areas is critically needed in Indian Country,” says UTTC President David M. Gipp (Hunkpapa Lakota). “We know that it’s unrealistic to expect working people to quit and go to school. Online programs allow them to continue working as they gain access to training that allows them to grow in their job skills and contribute more effectively in their communities.”

The Institutional Actions Council of the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association (NCA) of Colleges and Schools granted approval for the new programs Dec. 6, 2004. “This confirms the quality of our programs,” said Leah Woodke, director of UTTC Online and Distance Education.

An analysis by the NCA staff said United Tribes is positioned to “take a leading role in online delivery among tribal colleges.” In 2003, UTTC received accreditation for its online degrees in Early Childhood Education and Injury Prevention.

UTTC online courses and programs have evolved specifically to meet the needs of tribal students, says Phil Baird, dean of vocational and academic programs. The college decided not to use pre-packaged online programs and coursework. Instead, UTTC designed its own technology platform for both academic instruction and student support services.

“We believe UTTC’s programs are credible because our online coursework and platform were developed from a teacher’s perspective,” Baird (Sicangu Lakota) says. “We felt it was very important that our IT systems and courses meet both the needs of our students and the standards expected of higher education institutions in the country.”

The college offers 17 associate of applied science programs and 11 certificate programs and maintains a branch campus at the Owens Valley Career Development Center, Bishop, CA. The NCA has accredited UTTC through the year 2011.

For more information, see the United Tribes Technical College website, www.uttc.edu.

International Students Attend Fond du Lac

Of all the 35 tribal colleges and universities, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College (FDLTCC, Cloquet, MN) probably has the most active international exchange program. The international program encourages student enrollment in academic programs; cultural exchanges for faculty, staff, and students; and special events related to international activities.

LEARNING TOGETHER. Students from Haiti (Jean Bernard Dusulme), Liberia (Patricia Flomo), and Japan (Kumiko Oda) meet with their mentor at the tribal college, Shirley Defoe. Photo by Tom Urbanski

Started in August 2002, the program welcomed its first international student from Switzerland. Since then, the college has enrolled students from Canada, Russia, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Liberia, Japan, Haiti, Columbia, England, France, and Kenya. Students from the Philippines are planning to attend in fall 2005, according to Shirley Defoe (Ojibwe), international programs director at the college.

In June 2005, the college will host Patrick Anderson and his wife from Batchelor Institute of Darwin, Australia, for 3 weeks as a cultural exchange between the Aborigine culture of Australia and the Chippewa culture of Minnesota.

In September 2005, the college will host a Maori group from New Zealand. These students, aged 13-19 years, include singers, dancers, weavers, and carvers.

In August 2006, Defoe will be coordinating the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium (WINHEC) meetings. More than 250 participants from Australia, New Zealand, and the North American tribal colleges are expected in Minnesota. Defoe is a member of the WINHEC Board of Directors.

FDLTCC has ongoing memorandum of understanding agreements with three of the wänanga (tribal colleges) in New Zealand for faculty and student cultural exchanges. The college also has an agreement with Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, and is working to finalize a memorandum of understanding with the Batchelor Institute for faculty and student cultural exchanges.

In November 2004, Defoe received a Women in Leadership Award from television station KBJR, the Duluth-Superior affiliate of the NBC network. The award recognized her lifetime achievements, many of them in the international arena.

She was president of the Cloquet Sister City project with Russia and an international goodwill ambassador for the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe to Monaco and the Vatican. Defoe has worked at FDLTCC for 17 years.

For more information about the international program at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, contact Shirley Defoe at (218) 879-0829 or email sdefoe@fdltcc.edu.

FBC Teacher Explores Reindeer Rendezvous

Dr. Elizabeth McClain, an instructor at Fort Belknap College (Harlem, MT), traveled on horseback last summer to northern Mongolia, Khovsgol aimag Province, to find the Reindeer People, the Tsaatan, who live in structures similar to tepees. Accompanied by an interpreter and two Mongolian wranglers, she and the other members of the group traveled into one of the harshest, most inaccessible regions of the world.

Tsaatan, who possess few means of outside communication, travel with the seasons -- in summer by canoe on rivers. In winter when the rivers freeze, they ride their reindeer.

As a faculty member at a tribal college chartered by the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine people, McClain’s impetus for this journey was twofold. She wanted to see the Mongolian relationship between horse and human, which has never been broken. She also wanted to travel in a part of the earth only recently opened to outsiders and see the natural resources utilized by these last remaining nomadic indigenous people.

Boojum Expeditions, Bozeman, MT, organized this cross-cultural trip with their Mongolian counterpart, Mishig. McClain’s month-long trip was supported by USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service. The group traveled to Lake Khovsgol, Mongolia’s deepest lake, which holds 2% of the world’s freshwater. Many of the indigenous people take the same route when winter hits this remote place.

“What a joy to ride 20 to 30 miles a day, crossing creeks and rivers of water so pure and uncontaminated…. with the Mongolian wranglers singing about their mountains, lakes, rivers, and land,” says McClain.

At each mountain top or pass, an Ovoo (a pyramid-shaped collection of stones, wood, and silk scarves) greeted them. At these sacred sites they dismounted and walked three times in a clockwise direction to make an offering. Mongolians hold their mountains sacred and celebrate their land often.

“This heart-centered partnership between human beings, horses, and the environment reinforced the contemporary lessons taught in our tribal college,” says McClain. The expedition has sparked curriculum development in the FBC natural resources program. The college is considering developing an equine program grounded in the culture of the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine, which might utilize the horse as a paradigm, grounding students as they learn modern technological information.

She dreams of the potential of an exchange between her students and the Mongolian people, many of whom expressed keen interest in attending a tribal college in the United States.

For more information and photos from the trip, see the college library website, www.fbcc.edu/library/mclain/mongolia.html

White Earth Extension Agent Visits Pygmies

by Philippina Halstead

Stephanie Williams, extension service coordinator at White Earth Tribal and Community College, served on an assessment team to the Republic of Congo for several days in January 2005. Williams, a member of the White Earth Band of Chippewa Indians, was chosen for the assessment team after answering a nationwide search by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service and the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.

On this trip, the team explored developing a program to increase the skills of Pygmy youth. If funded, the program will focus on training for Pygmies in home gardening, market gardening, and health and nutrition.

“I have a life-time goal of getting back to more self-sustaining practices with less emphasis on materialism,” Williams says. Before becoming the extension service coordinator at the tribal college in 2003, she was the director of the Project Grow -White Earth Health Division, providing community education on various aspects of home and forest gardening as well as food and nutrition. She is certified in Native herbal medicine.

She sees her work as helping the greater community. Last year White Earth Tribal and Community College (Mahnomen, MN) initiated an Environmental Science Program, which she hopes will eventually support student exchanges in conjunction with the indigenous gardening project.

Despite the recent wars and the present fragile peace in the Congo, Williams found the assessment trip exciting and informative. Although she admits the trip was dangerous, she hopes the project is funded so she can go back.

The Pygmy people were very receptive to the team. “They are still slaves and want very much to be accepted by the neighboring Bantu people,” she says. Williams sees it as an opportunity to work through historical trauma with the Pygmy people in the indigenous garden programs by adapting an Ojibwe model.

Presently the team is hoping that funding will be approved by USDA, Smithsonian Institution, or other sources to begin the project.

Philippina Halstead is a freelance writer based in Atlantic City, WY.

Indigenous World Net Lets Educators Chat

Indigenous World Net was launched recently as a First Nations Adult and Higher Education Consortium (FNAHEC) project. The website is designed to provide an Internet-based platform from which indigenous ways of knowing can be shared with the world.

“Indigenous World Net will enable communities to share, communicate via chat and video conferencing, document their histories, and have a central repository of traditional knowledge,” according to the FNAHEC website.

The concept of an online, international, indigenous education forum was first tested prior to the 2002 World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education (WIPCE). Indigenous people around the world communicated with one another via the WIPCE website, asking about forum topics, housing, and travel logistics. Occasionally the questions ranged into more philosophical topics about indigenous education.

FNAHEC (the organization of 10 First Nations colleges and learning centers in western Canada) hosted WIPCE in 2002. The steering committee members in Canada took turns responding to questions.

Since the website has remained active with international traffic, FNAHEC obtained monetary support from the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund to give a separate home to Indigenous World Net (www.indigenousworld.net).

Much of the email has been from indigenous educators in South America, but it has not been posted because it needs translation, according to Vivian Ayoungman, executive director of FNAHEC. “You want to know what you are posting,” she says.

Consequently, FNAHEC is working with the Six Nations International Development Agency, which will help with Spanish translation. FNAHEC hopes to facilitate a bid for WIPCE by a South American community in 2008. (The conference is every 3 years; 2005 is in New Zealand.)

FNAHEC hopes the website will also support itself through advertising. Ayoungman says plans for the website oversight are still being finalized. “We need a process for monitoring our chat lines and bulletin board, which are very active,” she says.

An organization modeled after the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, FNAHEC was founded by post-secondary institutions in Canada in 1997. At the present time, its members include: Old Sun Community College, Red Crow Community College, Maskwachees Cultural College, Blue Quills First Nations College, Tsuu Tina Adult Education Program, Piikani Adult and Career Education Centre, Yellowhead Tribal Council Education Centre, and Nakoda Nation Post-Secondary Education Centre.

For more information about FNAHEC, contact the office in Calgary, Alberta, at (403) 281-9779, see the website www.fnahec.org, or email Vivian Ayoungman vayoungman@treaty7.org.

D-Q University Loses Accreditation, Funding

At its mid-January 2005 meeting, the accreditation agency for schools and colleges in Western states terminated the accreditation of D-Q University, California’s only tribal college.

In its report, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) cited problems ranging from unqualified top administrators, unsound curriculum development practices, shaky financial accountability standards and planning, and a high board of trustee turnover rate.

The action was not unexpected since WASC’s Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) warned the college at its June 2004 meeting that it must “show cause” why its accreditation should not be removed. “This action was the result of the failure of D-Q University to adequately respond to the six issues identified by the commission and detailed in the commission’s action letter,” according to the notice written by ACCJC Executive Director Barbara A. Beno.

While finding a solution to these problems seems daunting, hope – and controversy -- over the school’s future still abound. The school has not exhausted all of its bureaucratic remedies and has appealed to the agency to secure its status as a junior college.

According to acting president and former board member Victor Gabriel (Washoe), administrators at the school are responding to the charges in the report and appointing new board members. At press time in March, they had begun to close down the school. The board and the president had filed the appeal.

In addition to the loss of accreditation, the 2-year school lost critical funding last year from the U.S. Department of Education and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), which cited low numbers of enrolled Indian students. The college was created in 1971 to serve both Indian and Latino students. According to requirements under the Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act, a college must have more than 50% Indian students to quality for BIA funding under the law.

D-Q was one of the six tribal colleges that created the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) in 1973. In the 32-year history of the organization, only one member college permanently closed its doors, Inupiat University of the Arctic in 1980.

Blackfeet Students Can Take Online Classes

Blackfeet Community College (BCC, Browning, MT) is in its third semester of offering online courses and will offer new classes this fall. The tribal college offers core classes by distance learning in college success skills, introduction to computers, Blackfeet history, math, English, introduction to sociology, and psychology. The program offers online courses and hybrid courses with face-to-face meeting times.

WEB CAT. Student Tim McKay is enrolled in Blackfeet Community College’s online statistics class. Photo by Tony Bynum

The biggest challenge was raising awareness about learning online, according to Cheri Valdovino, district education coordinator. Another challenge was to raise the comfort level of faculty teaching online using WebCT. “The faculty who teach online at BCC are wonderful! Just supporting one another got us through the rough times,” Valdovino says.

The college uses a WebCT platform, which is a course management system or learning management system tool for internet-based classes. BCC classroom instructors developed the online courses. Through an agreement with Montana State University in Bozeman, MT, WebCT staff from Bozeman host training every spring covering methodologies, best practices, and technology of WebCT. A National Science Foundation grant plays a major role in the college’s ability to offer distance learning.

The program serves students in remote areas of the reservation, those working full time, and those without access to a college or university. NASA donated nine computers that will be placed in schools near Browning -- Seville, Babb, and Heart Butte. “These computers are available to any students who don’t have a computer at home,” says Valdovino. Others use computers at work or BCC.

To be successful, students must be self-motivated, self-disciplined, and willing to take charge of their own learning, according to Valdovino. “Initially some students were not even using email,” she says. Although Valdovino conducts several orientations, some students still have trouble with the technicalities.

The only 4-year degree offered online is in early childhood education. “Ideally, as more students get acquainted with distance learning they can pursue a 4-year degree online without having to uproot their families to larger cities or stop working full time,” says Valdovino.

One student who moved to Hawaii was able to complete her tribal college classes online. The coordinator’s goal is to work with local 4-year institutions so students have more such opportunities at their fingertips.

College Fund Offers Native Journeys, 2005

Participants in the American Indian College Fund’s 2005 Native Journeys tours will be transported to the ancient tribal forests of the Great Lakes region; visit a Native fishing village on the most northwestern point of the contiguous United States; and learn of the spiritual significance of the architecture, artifacts, and rock imagery of Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona. The visits to the three regions will take place this summer.

Utilizing the expertise of Native American tour guides, the Native Journeys tours distinguish themselves from other summer tours by transporting participants into intimate communities throughout Indian Country while providing an educational overview of the unique history of the tribal college movement. Activities vary, with tours of tribal college campuses interspersed between visits to museums, cultural centers, and sometimes even tribal ceremonies.

“People on our tours can experience Indian Country and have the opportunity to interact one-on-one with students and tribal leaders throughout Indian Country. They get to see that tribal colleges truly are under-funded miracles,” says College Fund President Richard B. Williams.

A former tour participant, Grace Buzaljko, said, “I decided to be adventurous and signed up for a 9-day trip to visit four tribal colleges on reservations…. The tour was really an eye-opener, the highlight of the year for me.” Participants also know that their support of the College Fund helps generate scholarship funding for some of the students they encounter along the way.

The 2005 Native Journeys will tour the Southwest June 5-12, the Great Lakes July 10-16, and the Pacific Northwest Aug. 28-Sept. 3.

For more information, contact John Gritts at (303) 426-8900 or visit the website, www.collegefund.org.

CMN to Partner With University in Belize

Last year the College of Menominee Nation (CMN, Keshena, WI) received a grant from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service to explore building an international research partnership between CMN and Galen University in Belize.

“The grant allowed us to begin a process of creating a long-term partnership between the two institutions based upon our common values of instruction and research in sustainable development,” explains Dr. William Van Lopik, academic program director for sustainable development at CMN.

A small group of CMN faculty and administrators, led by President Dr. Verna Fowler, traveled to Belize (Central America) for 10 days in January. They met with administrators and faculty from Galen University to discuss areas of shared research interests, faculty and student exchanges, and sharing of resources.

“It was a rich learning experience to see how the staff at Galen University is locally involved in the preservation of Mayan culture, securing indigenous land rights, and the sustainable development of natural resources,” says Van Lopik.

The chief forestry officer for the government of Belize described conservation plans for one of the last pristine tropical rainforests in the Western Hemisphere. He explained they had to implement their plan with a budget less than most tribal colleges’ budgets. Dr. Filiberto Penadas, director of the Tumul K’in Center of Learning, described how the unique school integrates traditional Mayan culture and beliefs into the entire school curriculum.

The group also visited several very remote Mayan villages and talked with local leaders about land tenure and cultural integrity. Van Lopik said, “We learned that Mayans in Belize share many of the same challenges, hopes, and dreams that the Menominee in Wisconsin share. We were touched by the gracious hospitality during our entire trip.”

This summer CMN faculty and staff will reciprocate that hospitality. CMN will host a group of faculty and administrators from Galen University. “We will introduce them to our unique college and the Menominee community. A formal, long-term relationship between Galen University and CMN will offer many future benefits and learning opportunities to our students and faculty,” Van Lopik says.

For more information, contact William Van Lopik by telephone (715) 799-1308 or email WVanlopik@menominee.edu.

Service Learning Helps Students Create Change

Northwest Indian College (NWIC) received national recognition recently for its Service Learning Program. Service learning integrates community service with academic instruction while developing civic/social justice responsibility in students.

The class strives to develop a reciprocal relationship where both community and students’ needs are met, according to Michelle J. Vendiola (Walker River Paiute), the service learning coordinator at the tribal college in Bellingham, WA.

For the past 2 years, service learning has been a college goal. The philosophy is, “The world is our classroom.” By creating opportunities for elders and others in the community to teach students, faculty members learn the pedagogy of service learning and its positive impact.

Addressing social issues is a major element of service learning. Students as scholars reflect on the root causes of poverty, racism, and oppression, Vendiola says. When thinking about their service work within the context of their academic course work, students are more likely to make the critical connections for social, institutional, and political change.

Empowering students to make systematic change in their community is crucial to retaining tribal rights, maintaining cultural identity, and improving the social and economic conditions of our tribal community and college.

People may overlook the conditions they grew up in, like poverty or racism, because they never before had words to describe the systems of oppression that marginalize them, Vendiola says.

Faculty member Shelley Macy says, “I am really excited about including service learning. Students are empowered to learn that their work really does make a difference in children's lives and in their community. This promises to be an excellent learning and teaching tool.”

The American Association of Community Colleges selected NWIC to become one of eight Horizons colleges nationwide. The Horizons colleges received grants to create replicable models for service learning with the assistance of mentor colleges.

For more information about service learning, see the American Association of Community Colleges website, www.aacc.nche.edu/servicelearning.

Cecelia Myerion Releases The Seven Teachings

Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC, Belcourt, ND) has released a documentary on the Seven Teachings of the Ojibwe. Longtime tribal college language teacher Cecelia Myerion developed the CD-ROM entitled Dibaajimowin Neeshwaswi Gikinamagawinin (The Seven Teachings). This documentary explains the bundle that a young Ojibwa boy was given from the Seven Grandfathers.

WISDOM AND LOVE. Cecelia Myerion developed a CD-ROM featuring the Seven Teachings of the Ojibwe.

Myerion and Frances Allard-Abbott traveled across the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota and through Minnesota and Canada to interview elders about the teachings. The documentary features those discussions.

It also features several tribal members. Julius Baker, an elementary school student, sang a traditional song using a hand drum; Kathy Peltier and Dan Jerome provided flute music; and the Northern Eagle Singers are the featured drum group. Autumn C. Meeches was featured on a special song.

TMCC held a showing last fall and invited many of the people involved in the production. The ceremony honored David Swenson from Makoche Studio of Bismarck for his work producing the CD-ROM. Myerion said he has become a “true and trusted friend of the tribal members.”

Myerion has been teaching Ojibwa language at the tribal college for 10 years. She also developed the summer Ojibwa Language Camp and taught the Ojibwa language to North Dakota State University students (many of them tribal members) over the interactive video network. Working with the tribal government, she has developed certification criteria for Ojibwa language teachers who are seeking North Dakota state teacher licenses.

The seven teachings are nbwaakaawin (wisdom), zaagidwin (love), mnaadendmowin (respect), aakdehewin (bravery), gwekwaadiziwin (honesty), dbaadendizwin (humility), and debwewin (truth).

The CD-ROM can be purchased through the Turtle Mountain Community College Book Store for $15. Call (701) 477 7807. The Seven Teachings was a 2-year project made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities’ minority institution set-aside grant.

Environmental Network Encompasses the Globe

The connection between Native peoples and water, air, land, forest, wildlife, and fish is vital to the well being of Native communities throughout the world. Impacts on the land have ecological, economic, physical, and spiritual ramifications.

Through international collaboration, indigenous people might be able to find the solutions to balance and sustainability more easily. That is the dream behind the American Indian Higher Education Consortium’s (AIHEC’s) effort to establish the Indigenous Environmental Higher Education Network (IEHEN).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funds IEHEN. The international network of indigenous environmental educators and leaders plans to address environmental education, protection, and management, according to AIHEC’s network coordinator Dan Burns. Through this forum, indigenous peoples across the Americas and the world can share their knowledge, he says.

Initially, the focus is upon the Western Hemisphere (North, Central, and South America). An advisory committee includes primarily indigenous leaders and educators from Canada, U.S., Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Ecuador. A support committee made up of experts in various fields will assist in developing and implementing the network.

Currently, approximately 40 indigenous institutions of higher learning in Canada, the United States, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Ecuador have joined the network and selected representatives. They also hope to include Mexico’s new indigenous university.

The new organization recently facilitated tribal college faculty and student research fellowships in Costa Rica as well as Fulbright scholars coming to teach at tribal colleges. An internet collaborative space has been established that will facilitate both synchronous and asynchronous communication between members.

For more information or to provide information, contact Dan Burns, IEHEN project coordinator, by phone (360) 319-2010 or email dburns@aihec.org.

LCO Launches Attack On Invading Plants

The Chippewa Flowage, adjacent to the Lac Courte Oreilles (LCO) Ojibwe Reservation, is Wisconsin’s third largest lake. The flowage is an important resource for the LCO Ojibwe people for both subsistence and recreation.
Now the lake’s future is threatened by two aquatic invasive plant species -- eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) and purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria).

The LCO Ojibwe Community College Extension has recently received funding for a 3-year project that will monitor the populations of eurasian watermilfoil and purple loosestrife on the Chippewa Flowage. Data obtained by this research will help local and state agencies to manage these two invasive species, according to Erik Olson, the extension agent at LCO Ojibwe Community College (Hayward, WI).

WEAPON OF DESTRUCTION. The Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College Extension Service attacks invading plants to protect recreation and wildlife.

Eurasian watermilfoil is a feathery, submerged, aquatic plant native to northern Europe and Asia. Since it was introduced to this continent, it has spread across much of North America. It forms dense mats in shallow areas of lakes and rivers making it difficult to fish, swim, and boat. The thick mats can kill native vegetation, wildlife, and fish and thus lower property values.

Purple loosestrife is an emergent, perennial plant native to Europe and Asia. It also is spreading rapidly in Wisconsin and North America. Thick stands of purple loosestrife can choke out native vegetation and reduce food, shelter, and nesting sites for native wildlife. It is especially harmful to waterfowl, muskrats, and wild rice.

The tribal college extension office is educating the local and state communities about invasive species as well as helping to manage them. Funding for the project came from a USDA, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) National Water Quality Program Grant.

“This is very competitive process. Tribal colleges must compete against large universities. Our success in obtaining this award was due to our effective collaborations with numerous local agencies and organizations,” Olson says.

The college is collaborating with the LCO Conservation Department, University of Wisconsin Extension, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, U.S. Forest Service, and local agencies and organizations on this project.

For details, contact Erik Olson at LCOOCC by email eolson@lco-college.edu, or check the project’s web site www.lco-college.edu (click on extension).

Stewart Remembered As Life-long Teacher

One of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium’s (AIHEC’s) first employees, Wilhelmina “Buddine” Fredericks Stewart, died Jan. 29, 2005. Stewart (Mandan/Hidatsa) began work as the curriculum director when the organization opened its doors in Denver in October 1973.

AIHEC STAFF 1975. When AIHEC was located in Denver in the 1970s, the staff included (left to right, front row) Antoinette Snow (Sicangu Lakota), executive secretary; Wilhelmina “Buddine” Stewart (Mandan/Hidatsa), director of curriculum; Dr. Perry G. Horse (Kiowa), associate and research director. Standing are David M. Gipp (Hunkpapa Lakota), executive director; Roberta Wilson (Oglala Lakota), human resources director; Richard Nichols (Santa Clara Pueblo), accreditation director; and David Lee (Navajo), comptroller. Photo courtesy of David Gipp

She conducted workshops on curriculum development and staff development for the first original tribal colleges, according to AIHEC’s first executive director, David M. Gipp. During the 10 years that she worked for AIHEC, the number of tribal colleges more than tripled from the initial six.

“She was a life-long teacher, beginning at age 17, and a champion horsewoman,” Gipp says. She taught at several rural schools in North Dakota before going back to school at New Mexico A&M College (now New Mexico State University) in Las Cruces, NM. While there she competed on the rodeo team in barrel racing, goat tying, and roping. In 1956 Stewart was crowned the New Mexico State University Rodeo Queen. She was also named the North Dakota Rodeo Association Champion Barrel Racer in the late 1950s.

Prior to her retirement in 1995, she taught at schools in North Dakota, South Dakota, and California over the years and also coached girls’ basketball. She fought cancer until her death at the age of 75.

Other “first generation” staff members who have passed away include David Lee (Navajo), Roberta Wilson (Oglala Lakota), and Antoinette Snow (Sicangu Lakota), according to Gipp (Hunkpapa Lakota), who is now the president of United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, ND.

AIHEC Presents Award to Sens. Burns, Dorgan

The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) honored U.S. Senators Conrad Burns (R-MT) and calvina.dupre@fas.usda.gov (D-ND) Feb. 16, 2005, as the first recipients of the “AIHEC Abourezk-Skeen Award.”

The award is named in honor of former U.S. Sen. James G. Abourezk (D-SD) and the late Congressman Joseph R. Skeen (R-NM). Abourezk was one of the first Congressional supporters of the nation’s tribal colleges, introducing legislation that recognized the responsibility of the federal government to fund tribally-controlled post-secondary institutions. That legislation became known as the Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act of 1978.

Congressman Skeen was chairman of the House Appropriations Committee on Agriculture and later the Subcommittee on Interior. He championed funding of the Equity in Educational Land Grant Status Act of 1994 and the Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Act.

This award will be presented once every 4 years to two individuals whose contributions exemplify the leadership and commitment that Abourezk and Skeen demonstrated during their years in the United States Congress.

TCUs Trade Crop Ideas Around Globe

The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has arranged for several tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) to get involved in international agricultural research projects over the years, according to Calvina Dupre, an FAS agricultural research advisor who has facilitated many of the exchanges.

Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI, Albuquerque, NM) and Sandia National Laboratory are collaborating with researchers in Chihuahua, Mexico, on a 3-year research project.

In Mexico, over 150 hydroponic greenhouses are successfully producing forage for livestock. SIPI’s Land Grant University Demonstration Farm is investigating the feasibility of such protected agriculture techniques for use in arid lands of the western United States.

Their research involves quantifying the performance of various forage crops and monitoring water use of the hydroponic forage production systems in order to estimate the water savings compared with traditional field-grown production.

The College of Menominee Nation in Wisconsin (CMN, Keshena, WI) initiated a scientific exchange to develop long-term collaborative research with counterparts at Galen University in Belize, Central America. (It is described elsewhere in the On Campus Shorts in this issue.)

They compared the rich temperate forests of the Great Lakes Basin and the sub-tropical rainforests of the Yucatan Peninsula. This international partnership could benefit timber-rich North American Indian tribes.
Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College (Baraga, MI) staff visited China in May 2002 to research the interrelationship of forestry and fisheries industries and their impact on community environments and economics.

Blackfeet Community College (Browning, MT), Chief Dull Knife Memorial College (Lame Deer, MT), and Oglala Lakota College (Kyle, SD) joined USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and FAS scientists in 2002 on an exchange visit to Japan, China, and Hong Kong. They shared their unique cultural traditions, including sustainable management of traditional and indigenous plants.

The team compared their strategies for ecosystem recovery and native plant use with the practices used in a similar climate of Inner Mongolia. They also conducted buffalo research in southern China.

Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College (Cloquet, MN) and Blackfeet Community College (Browning, MT) participated in a scientific exchange to China in 2002 on sustainable agricultural practices. The team compared natural organic cropping techniques, the use of native edible plants, fisheries management and aquaculture projects, and soil and water conservation techniques.

A sustainable rangeland project involves USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service in Arizona, Tohono O’odham Community College (Sells, AZ), and Maoris in New Zealand. The project uses the internet to assess arid and semiarid rangeland health and best practices for sustainable management. It was a 2-year project, 2002-2004.

FAS is also involved in two projects described in the Land Grant Department elsewhere in this issue: Fort Peck Community College’s 2-year (2003-2005) project developing agricultural markets in Asia and Haskell Indian Nations’ University’s 4-year project (2001-2005) with the Altaians in Russia on surface water quality.

For more information, contact Calvina Dupre, FAS agricultural research advisor, at (202) 720-0618 or email calvina.dupre@fas.usda.gov.

WAR DANCE. Students from Maori wänanga in New Zealand came to the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) this year as part of an ongoing exchange between the institutions. The students were accompanied by an elder, Marie Panapa, who created this acrylic painting, Haka, which now hangs in the office of IAIA President Della Warrior. Last year IAIA students attended one of the Maori colleges for 6 weeks.