Volume 21 Summer 2010 Issue No. 4
In This Issue: Native American Studies
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ON CAMPUS
SIPI’s Vadiee Honored NM Professor of the Year
U.S. Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk has announced that Dr. Nader Vadiee was named New Mexico Professor of the Year for 2009. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) selected Vadiee, an instructor at Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI, Albuquerque, NM), from more than 300 top professors in the United States.
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PROFESSOR HONORED. Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute's Dr. Nader Vadiee, New Mexico Professor of the Year, and his daughter Mariam, at an evening reception honoring recipients in Washington, D.C. “I want to congratulate Dr. Vadiee on his tremendous achievement,” Echo Hawk said. “I am pleased to see that a professor at one of our colleges has achieved such a prestigious honor. It provides a tangible demonstration of the positive role models our youth and students throughout Indian Country need.”
Acting SIPI President Dr. Sherry R. Allison said, “Dr. Vadiee is an effective and skilled educator who really cares for our students and works from the heart. Not only does he bring honor to himself and his profession, but to the entire SIPI community.”
Vadiee has established state-of-the-art learning facilities and curricula at SIPI to educate future engineers who can then compete in the 21st century global workforce. He has begun working with high school students through an engineering career pathway at Bernalillo High School where 50% of the student body is American Indian and Alaska Native. Vadiee creates project-based learning opportunities in which the high school students work with SIPI students and graduate engineering students from the University of New Mexico (UNM) and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
These student teams interact with industry representatives as they implement their projects, such as designing wind turbines, electric bicycle charging stations, or robotic kits for statewide competitions. Students leave SIPI armed with the academic and practical skills to transfer to four-year institutions to complete their bachelor’s degrees. CASE and the Carnegie Foundation have been partners in offering the U.S. Professors of the Year awards program since 1981.
FBC, FPCC, MSU Create New Teacher Program
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CREATING TEACHERS. The team that created the new teacher education program met at Fort Belknap College Nov. 30. From left are: Clarena Brockie, Annette Young, Dr. Margarett Campbell, Jessica Stiffarm, Dr. Deborah His Horse Is Thunder, and Vicki Hayes.Fort Belknap College (FBC, Harlem, MT) has created a new teacher education program, Nee-tha-hatsanak/ Wa’Uspe-Wicakiya. Classes will be offered via Vision Net videoconferencing in collaboration with Fort Peck Community College (FPCC) in Poplar, MT, and Montana State University (MSU)-Northern in Havre.
The college has collaborated with FPCC on teacher education in the past. In fact, this is the third teacher education program the U.S. Department of Education has approved and funded through FBC. The new program builds on the success of past programs with the added convenience of the videoconferencing option for elementary education students. Students in the secondary education program will attend classes at the MSU-Northern campus.
“We’re very pleased to offer this new program and encourage students to take advantage of this great opportunity to continue their education,” says the project’s director, FBC Dean of Students Clarena Brockie. The program will offer bachelor’s degrees in elementary and secondary education to a total of 30 students – 15 attending FBC and 15 attending FPCC.
To qualify for the program, a student must be tribally enrolled, maintain a grade point average of 2.5 or better, and complete his or her associate’s degree by the Fall semester of 2010.
Preference will be given to students from tribal colleges and those in the elementary education program. All students must complete their bachelor’s degree in elementary education or secondary education by the Spring semester of 2012.
Program director Annette Young and proctor Jessica Stiffarm will staff the project at FBC with Brockie. Young is a doctoral candidate in teacher leadership and holds a Master’s Degree in English and Bachelor’s Degrees in Elementary Education and English. Stiffarm has a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education. Brockie recently completed the coursework for a Master’s Degree in American Indian studies through the University of Arizona. The FBC team will collaborate with Vicki Hayes at MSU-Northern and former FBC President Dr. Margarett Campbell at Fort Peck Community College.
For more information, call (406) 353- 2607, ext. 260.
Education Pioneer, Jerry Mohatt, Passes
Dr. Gerald “Jerry” Mohatt, the founding president of Sinte Gleska University (SGU, Mission, SD), passed away Feb. 10, 2010, in Fairbanks, AK. Chartered by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in 1971, Sinte Gleska was one of the six founding members of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC).
Mohatt was born in Omaha, NE, in 1940. Through his work with the Jesuits in the early 1960s, he developed a lifelong relationship with the Lakota people and a commitment to the health and welfare of America’s indigenous populations. In 1971, he left the Jesuit Order prior to taking his final vows and moved to the Rosebud Reservation where he met his wife, Robby, and learned Lakota fluently.
He worked with Stanley Redbird, Sherry Red Owl, James Tydings, and James (Buster) Laurie to establish Sinte Gleska. In 1973, they chose a Lakota man, Lionel Bordeaux, to become president.
“Recognizing his leadership in the early tribal college movement is important. Jerry helped us translate our interests as Native people and make our case with mainstream institutions and people,” says Cheryl Crazy Bull, a former vice president of SGU.
Mohatt later moved his family to Alaska. A professor of psychology, Mohatt established the University of Alaska-Fairbanks (UAF) Center for Alaska Native Health Research after more than two decades of work to develop a nationally recognized biomedical health research program in Alaska. He served as the center’s director.
He was a mentor to new researchers who strove to continue his work with Alaska Native communities. His research project, “People Awakening: Alaska Native Pathways to Sobriety,” is a landmark study in addictions science. In 2008, the university honored him with one of its most prestigious awards, the Emil Usibelli Distinguished Research Award.
During his time at UAF, Mohatt laid the foundation for a joint Ph.D. program in clinical-community psychology between the university campuses in Fairbanks and in Anchorage. He served as dean of the former College of Rural Alaska and the College of Human and Rural Development.
David M. Gipp, who served as the first executive director of AIHEC, says, “He made wonderful contributions to First Nations Peoples and their empowerment. He will be missed in the lower 48 and Alaska.”
Mohatt died surrounded by his family after a long battle with leukemia. The family has set up a blog in remembrance at: http://mohattfamily.wordpress. com/. Donations are being accepted to the Gerald V. Mohatt Memorial Scholarship, Sinte Gleska University Foundation, Attention: David Sandoz, P. O. Box 105, Mission, SD 57555.
TCU Leaders Urge Census Participation
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COUNTING ON YOU. Bernice Morning Gun (Crow) steps forward as the first of a trio of United Tribes Technical College nursing students to engage with an interactive display about the census. Next in line are Tracey Brewer (Oglala Sioux Tribe) and Amber Davis (Turtle Mountain). United Tribes News photo by Dennis J. Neumann A traveling exhibit about the census is visiting communities across the West, including Indian reservations. The 2010 Census Road Tour captured the imagination of students and staff at United Tribes Technical College (UTTC, Bismarck, ND) in February. The tech-centered traveling exhibit features LCD screens, information kiosks, and a computer that takes photos and records messages from those who want to participate in the exhibit’s “Portrait of America.”
United Tribes vice president of intertribal programs Harriett Skye praises the census for having American Indians in their own ethnic category rather than being lumped into the category of “other” as they once were. Others mention the “under-count” of American Indians in previous censuses and the need for tribes to promote a thorough and accurate count in 2010.
Dr. Jim Davis, president of Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC, Belcourt, ND), emphasizes the benefits of an accurate American Indian/Alaska Native count for any institution that applies for grants and contracts from the federal and state governments and private donors. “We depend on the number of Native people we serve, and if those numbers are not accurate, then we stand to lose federal funds for education.”
“We have to make tribal people aware of the confidentiality of the census and the potential benefits for our health care systems, our post-secondary education, our roads – everything that we are so dependent on,” says Jeff Baker, who is the U.S. Census Bureau’s tribal partnership specialist at the Denver regional office.
For information about the road tour and the census, visit the website www.census. gov/regions/denver/.
International Recruiters Visit KBOCC
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INTERNATIONAL INTEREST. KBOCC recently hosted Martin Kanjadza from Lilongwe, Malawi; Doreen John from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Seemi Khosa from Islamabad, Pakistan; Tim Wright from Mexico City, Mexico; Claudia Sanchez from Maracaibo, Venezuela; and Liisi Lembinen from Tartu, Estonia, to introduce international recruiters to tribal colleges. Photo courtesy of KBOCCKeweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College (KBOCC, Baraga, MI) hosted six international recruiters for a campus visit in November 2009. Northern Michigan University’s International Program Specialist Miriam Moeller brought the visitors: Doreen John from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Martin Kanjadza from Lilongwe, Malawi; Tim Wright from Mexico City, Mexico; Seemi Khosa from Islamabad, Pakistan; Claudia Sanchez from Maracaibo, Venezuela; and Liisi Lembinen from Tartu, Estonia, to learn about tribal colleges.
The recruiters had attended a training program for overseas educational advisors across America through the College Board and Education USA and sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
The visit opened with a welcome by KBOCC President Debbie Parrish and a pipe ceremony and prayer offered by Donny Dowd, Ojibwa traditional leader. After meeting KBOCC students, staff, faculty, administration, and board of regents members, participants attended a luncheon featuring traditional Ojibwa food.
During lunch, small groups discussed what the international recruiters do, how the programs could be incorporated into KBOCC, and what students from other countries could learn about KBOCC the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, and the surrounding area.
Parrish stated, “I was surprised to learn that people from other countries don’t realize that Native Americans exist today. Native Americans aren’t a part of the history texts at their K-12 schools.”
After lunch, Donny Dowd answered questions about some Anishinaabe customs. All of the visiting recruiters were given birch bark baskets and KBOCC mementos. The recruiters presented the college with a gift from Malaysia.
Parrish stated, “We look forward to welcoming students from other countries in the next few years and hope that our students will be able to share in experiences abroad.”
OLC Expands Facilities At Rapid City Extension
To accommodate a record enrollment, Oglala Lakota College (OLC, Kyle, SD) is expanding its facilities. The tribal college reached an all-time high with 1,804 students registered for the Fall 2009 semester. OLC President Thomas Shortbull says, “Because of the increased enrollment at the Rapid City Extension Center, we will be expanding this center with a $800,000 grant from HUD, increasing the classrooms to 19.”
The Rapid City Extension Center has become the largest of OLC’s centers. Shirley Lewis, the director at Rapid City, says, “We have come a long way since holding classes in a portion of the gym at the Mother Butler Center with overcrowded classrooms, inadequate partitions, poor lighting, and one office for staff.” Students now have 15 classrooms, six offices, a small library, and a student lounge.
A four-year tribal college, OLC was chartered by the Oglala Sioux Tribe 39 years ago. In addition to the Rapid City extension center, OLC has nine college centers on the Pine Ridge Reservation and one on the Cheyenne River Reservation. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association.
OLC has obtained grants for construction and renovations at its reservation campuses, too, including a $1.6 million grant for the student dorm in Kyle. With a Title III grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the college completed the Head Start building in Martin, SD, and started construction on Head Start centers in Manderson and Kyle. Construction of a multi-purpose building on the administrative campus outside of Kyle is well underway. The building will house a regulation-size college gym and classrooms for OLC’s Lakota language immersion classes.
For more information, see www. olc.edu.
People in the News
• Will Wilson has received a 2009 Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant. Wilson is the Vision Project manager at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, a center of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA, Santa Fe, NM). He was one of 25 artists in the country to receive this prestigious award. The Joan Mitchell Foundation strives to assist the needs of contemporary artists and to demonstrate that painting and sculpture are significant cultural necessities. The Vision Project is part of the Ford Foundation’s grant initiative “Advancing the Dialogue on Native American Arts in Society.”
• Wilson Afterbuffalo, a second-year pre-nursing student at Blackfeet Community College, recently received the Global Volunteer Scholarship. The Global Volunteers Organization members come from all parts of the world to places with third world conditions. Blackfeet Community College (BCC, Browning, MT) is one of the organizations they come back to each summer. Last year the individual members decided to provide financial assistance to a student majoring in health or education as the Blackfeet people have major health problems and a shortage of elementary teachers. They chose Afterbuffalo, who works part-time at the local nursing home, because of his commitment to working with the elders. Afterbuffalo enjoys working with the elders and sharing their wisdom, and few health care workers know how to care for them. BCC President John Salois says, “We are grateful to the Global Volunteers not only for their projects but also for the interest they have in our students and the Blackfeet people.”
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LLTC Student Selected NASA Ambassador
On January 22, 2010, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that it has selected 105 of its best and brightest interns and fellows for the NASA Student Ambassador Program. Included in this elite group is Leech Lake Tribal College (LLTC, Cass Lake, MN) student, Marie Kingbird- Lowry—the only Minnesotan selected for this honor. NASA managers and mentors nominated the recipients from the hundreds of interns and fellows engaged in research and education opportunities across the agency.
As a member of the NASA Student Ambassadors virtual community, Kingbird-Lowry will interact with the agency while sharing information, making professional connections, and collaborating with peers. The Student Ambassadors will also represent NASA in a variety of venues and help the agency inspire and engage future interns and fellows.
Fond du Lac Expands Math, Science, Business Classes
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College (FDLTCC, Cloquet, MN) has been awarded more than $1.75 million in grant funding for two separate projects related to the institution's science, mathematics, and business programs.
The tribal and community college received $879,531 from the National Science Foundation for a project to investigate the past, present, and future conditions of wild rice lakes on the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation. The five-year project involves the University of Minnesota, local middle school and high school student researchers, and the Fond du Lac Reservation’s Resource Management Division.
Designed to introduce geoscience to traditionally under-represented student groups, the project hopes to boost math and science knowledge and related test scores of the students involved in the project. Strategies will include summer camps, hands-on research activities, and participation in science fair projects and contests.
“This new grant will allow us to continue the momentum generated by our math and science camps,” says Andy Wold, FDLTCC faculty member and principal investigator for the grant. “We'll use our current college students in a mentoring process, and we will also be involved with local high school science teachers.”
The college’s small business/entrepreneurship certificate and degree programs received a Title III grant from the U.S. Department of Education to extend educational outreach. The $897,109 grant supports Project Access, which involves redesigning curriculum and delivery methods.
Students will have a greater range of easy-in, easy-out learning opportunities with the revised learning modules, which will provide continuing education units or other short-term credit options. “This grant strengthens the ties between the reservation community and the college,” says Dr. Robert “Sonny” Peacock, Fond du Lac Reservation director of Tribal College Programs. “Bringing a user-friendly curriculum to the reservation community, from expanding computer skills to enhancing management techniques, will continue to enhance the reservation's workforce and community.”
“We already have a strong business program curriculum, and this new grant project will help evolve our existing offerings,” said Bryan Jon Maciewski, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College Business Department faculty.
“We will be creating short-term learning opportunities for small business owners and entrepreneurs that will better fit busy schedules and the regular demands of operating a business. These will also be good courses for people currently working in a business setting who want to improve a specific skill in areas such as accounting, customer service, or management.”
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DRUMMING UP PRIDE. Blackfeet Community College (BCC, Browning, MT) Administrators and Faculty Drum Group opened Native American Month activities with the BCC song to bless the students. From left around the circle are: Director G.G. Kipp, Joe Bremner, Paul Old Chief, Marvin Weatherwax, Mike Lafromboise (obscured), John Salois, and Woody Kipp. Every Thursday during the month of November a tribal college department had a student Native activity with prayer and smudging. Photo courtesy of BCCBison and Molasses, A Good Combination
With the spring calving season fast approaching, the Sitting Bull College (SBC, Fort Yates, ND) Bison Extension Education program hosted its 4th Annual Bison workshop on March 11, 2010.
Twenty-three participants attended from across the Great Plains region, including people from Sioux Falls, SD, Minot, ND and several enrolled members of the Fort Berthold and Cheyenne River Reservations. The workshop also hosted two individuals from the state of Washington, who traveled all the way to the Standing Rock Reservation to learn more about bison care and management.
Sitting Bull College Bison Project Coordinator, Dr. Rick DeLoughery said, “Workshop participants learned about user-friendly care of bison, business management strategies and herding techniques, including new fencing styles and corral design techniques.” DeLoughery heads up the Sitting Bull College Bison Extension Education program, where he manages 14 head of bison that are used for educational purposes.
Featured speaker and wildlife specialist, Duane Lammers, has been working with bison since 1977. “There are a lot of things about these animals that are handled differently by private individuals versus bison production companies,” Lammers said. “Human creativity is the big difference between corporations and privately owned buffalo ranches.”
Lammers, an experienced bison care and management consultant, believes human creativity among private individuals is demonstrated by their use of technology, including ATVs, modern fencing materials, GPS imaging and user-friendly techniques in caring for their herds.
“It’s amazing what huge strides a person can make by using a little imagination and human creativity when caring for buffalo,” Lammers said. “During a past project of mine, I used molasses on some noxious weeds instead of chemical sprays and the buffalo were immediately attracted to the molasses and grazed the weeds down to nothing.”
Other workshop highlights included one-man round-up methods, information about the bison market and proven care techniques that may help private owners understand their herds a little better.
“In the near future, our bison program will conduct a grazing demonstration with bison yearlings,” DeLoughery said. “We are interested in determining if weight gain increases with yearlings when they are kept with bison cows instead of isolating them.”
The Sitting Bull College Bison program is based in McLaughlin, South Dakota at the college’s remote campus.
For more information about the Sitting Bull College Bison Care and Management program contact Rick DeLoughery at (605) 823-4318 or send an email to rickd@sbci.edu.
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GOING UP. Two workers for Northwest Contracting Company install steel supports on the upper level of the second floor of the United Tribes science building. Despite above average snowfall, work continued through the winter season on the first structure to be built on the college's new south campus. The approximate $5 million facility will provide much-needed classroom and laboratory space for science, technology, nursing, and law enforcement programs. Photo by Dennis J. NeumannUSDA and AIHEC Increase Cooperation
On February 25, 2010, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack signed an updated Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to promote increased cooperation between USDA, tribally controlled colleges and universities (TCUs), and American Indian/Alaska Native communities. The MOA reaffirms the partnership between AIHEC and USDA to assist in fulfilling the 2002 Farm Bill’s mandate that USDA establish programs ensuring that TCUs and American Indian/Alaska Native communities participate equitably in USDA employment, programs, and activities.
“This MOA is an important step forward in our efforts to expand cooperation and consultation between USDA and tribal colleges," said Vilsack. “The Obama administration is committed to supporting the critical role tribal colleges have played in improving the lives of Native Americans, and to ensuring that they enjoy full access to USDA programs and services.”
The parties will focus on strengthening the capacities of AIHEC member institutions and supporting their full integration into USDA programs and services, as well as the Land Grant System and its programs. The agreement will also promote food and agricultural science careers and professional attainment among students attending AIHEC member institutions; promote employment opportunities within USDA for students attending AIHEC member institutions, and support the development of AIHEC. The first agreement was signed in 1998 and was updated in 2008.
The MOA is an extension of President Obama’s prior recognition of the importance of Tribal Colleges.
The renewed USDA and AIHEC MOA acknowledges the role of 1994 TCUs to the nation’s food security and to tribal self-determination through their cultural and other science based educational programs that function to improve local economies, re-invigorate the use of ancestral foods to address nutritional issues that lead to diabetes and obesity, and to develop energy programs that have the potential to benefit all Americans. In November 2009, senior USDA officials met with tribal leaders and members from across the country to expand cooperation and consultation between the USDA and tribal nations.
Participants in the signing ceremony included Janie Hipp, Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Office of Tribal Relations, who serves as the USDA Co-Chair on the USDA and AIHEC Leadership Group; Carrie Billy, AIHEC President and CEO; and presidents from the 1994 Land Grant Institutions across the Nation.
TCJ Awards National Internship
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On February 10, 2010, Ryan Tafoya, a 25-year-old communications major at Fort Lewis College (Durango, CO), was selected for the Tribal College Journal’s national magazine internship.
Tafoya, a junior, is a native to the Four Corners area. He was raised on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation, in nearby Dulce, NM, and he would like to use his education to help solve community problems such as high suicide rates, alcoholism, and drug abuse.
TCJ selected Tafoya because of his major, interests, and solid academic record. “We had many candidates, but Ryan differentiated himself with his enthusiasm and professionalism in applying and interviewing,” says Kurt Umbhau, editor. “He’ll have a chance to be nationally published, earn some money, and experience the process of creating a magazine. The internship gives students a chance to earn extra college credits and to build a portfolio.”
Tafoya recently transferred to FLC from the University of Phoenix, in Phoenix, AZ. “At the University of Phoenix, I never would have had the chance to do something like this,” Tafoya says. “Even at Fort Lewis, the options for internships can be limited. I was pretty excited when I found out I got this position and I can’t wait to gain some experience outside of the classroom.”
Tafoya is a non-traditional college student who says he decided he had to go back to school and get his degree after some rough experiences in the job market. “It was frustrating because I could only get work doing something I was more than competent enough to do, but I didn’t have the credentials,” Tafoya says. “Now I’m earning a degree, but finding out that it might not be enough. The employment market is so thin right now that job candidates have to do whatever they can to gain an edge.”
Tafoya is about a third of the way through the program. He has already created and distributed a press release that was covered by a local and a national newspaper, assisted with preparation for a conference, and helped in the editing process of an issue. “I don’t think I fully understood how big it was for me at first,” Tafoya says. “After the press release came out, I had quite a few people congratulate me and tell me it was a great position to get. I don’t know what most internships normally entail because this is my first one, but my experiences so far have all been positive,” Tafoya says.
Tafoya has already had a memorable and enjoyable experience, and he looks forward to learning more about producing the magazine. “This internship is perfect for me,” Tafoya says, “I feel kind of like I am actually starting my career.”
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