Volume XII Winter 2000 Issue #2
ON CAMPUS
Teacher corps marks 'end of dark ages'
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded three-year grants to 26 colleges and universities to create the American Indian Teacher Corps. Janine Pease-Pretty on Top, Ed.D., vice president of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, said the teacher corps is a wish come true. "American Indian children will flourish educationally with well-trained American Indian teachers. I can envision our children as the 'cream of the crop' instead of where they are today 'at the bottom of the bucket,'" said Pease-Pretty on Top, who is also president of Little Big Horn College, which received one of the grants.When President Bill Clinton announced his education agenda in January 1999, he emphasized the importance of providing Indian teachers for Indian students across the country. In July 1998, Education Secretary William Riley became personally convinced of the importance of training American Indian teachers when he visited Salish Kootenai College with Carrie Billy, executive director of the White House Initiative on Tribal Colleges & Universities. Of the 450 teachers on the Flathead Reservation, only six were American Indians. The teacher corps is designed to recruit 1,000 new Native American teachers to serve areas with high concentrations of American Indian and Alaska Native students. The grantees include 14 tribal colleges and 22 mainstream universities in partnerships with tribal communities. Some of the universities serve areas where there are no tribal colleges, such as Oklahoma. No grants were awarded in Alaska.
Pease-Pretty on Top said that for the last two decades, the federal government has given little support for personnel development in teacher education. "Most of the emphasis has been on math, science, and technology," she said. Just two years ago, there were fewer than fifteen teacher trainees in all of Montana's schools of education, she said. "The Teacher Corps Initiative tips the balance, providing critical incentives to bright and intelligent American Indian people for whom children and school is their choice." Congress provided $10 million for the teacher corps for its first year. Many of the grantees focused upon professionalizing Indian teacher aides, who have demonstrated their commitment to teaching Indian children.
"The national competition was not easy," Pease-Pretty on Top said. "Nevertheless, these tribal colleges succeeded in the competition among a field of the finest state and private colleges and universities in the country. Tribal colleges have a unique capacity to tailor the curricula to the tribal peoples they serve, providing tribal studies at the heart of the education majors and including American Indian professors and student teaching experiences with American Indian children," she said. "Not since the 1970s has there been this kind of opportunity for teacher development here in Indian Country. In retrospect, we will regard the 1980s and 1990s as the dark ages for teachers' education."
The grantees are: Arizona State University, Diné College, Northern Arizona University, Tohono O'odham Community College, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, University of Kansas Center for Research, Bay Mills Community College, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, Blackfeet Community College, Fort Belknap College, Fort Peck Community College, Little Big Horn College, Salish Kootenai College, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, University of New Mexico-Gallup, American Indian Research & Development, American Indian Resource Center Inc., Northeastern State University, Tenskwatawa Inc., Oglala Lakota College, Si Tanka College, Sinte Gleska University, Heritage College, Northwest Indian College, Western Washington University, and College of Menominee Nation.
The American Indian Teacher Corps will assure more Indian teachers to serve tomorrow's students.
Photo by Lee Marmon, American Indian College Fund
NWIC training tomorrow's land managers
The first cohort of students has graduated from Northwest Indian College's Tribal Environmental Resource Management program. As part of its contract with the National Science Foundation, NWIC agreed to share its model American Indian land manager training program with other tribal colleges. The college sponsored a workshop last July to discuss what did and did not work. The college is also distributing a curriculum guide to other tribal colleges along with a video that could be used to start a similar program, according to the director of the program, Phillip Duran (Ysleta del Sur Pueblo).At the workshop, NWIC emphasized the importance of its non-abandonment policy. "Students' lives pull them away from classes," said Dan Burns, who helped design the program. When drug and alcohol problems or family illnesses arise, the college continues to call the students and convince them to return to class. As a result of this policy, some of the students who dropped out have joined the new cohort. The cohort means that the students are in class together as a group 75 percent of the time, learning to work together.
The program is unique in several ways. Before it was designed, the college employed a technician for an entire summer to survey 26 tribes in the Pacific Northwest about what they needed in natural resource managers. To create well-rounded land managers prepared to work for tribal governments, the curriculum integrates tribal issues (including treaty law, water law, jurisdiction and Indian history) as well as various disciplines, such as biology, economics, chemistry, and English. The students did internships for the tribe and a university, helping with community surveys for the tribal planning department and fisheries restoration for the tribal legal department.
The associate degree is designed to prepare students for transferring to partner institutions: Evergreen State College and Western Washington University's Huxley and Fairhaven Colleges. The NWIC program is described in a book (The Learning Edge) just published by the American Association of Community Colleges, which describes 13 of the programs funded by the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technology Education grants. For more information, call the association at 800/ 250-6557 or see the website www.aacc.nche.edu. For information about the curriculum materials, contact Phil Duran at Northwest Indian College, 360/ 676-2772.
Northwest Indian College graduates who obtain their bachelor's degrees can choose from a variety of tribal natural resource positions. Photo of (left to right): Julian Lawrence, Leonard Lawrence, and Paul Casmer at the sea docks with a bucket of oyster seed.
Photo by Lee Marmon, American Indian College Fund.
Haskell creating 'hot shot' scientists
American Indians rightfully take pride in the successes of their forest fire fighter crews. Haskell Indian Nations University hopes to produce a cadre of graduates who will become the nuclei of "hot shot" environmental science teams. "We hope these teams will earn reputations comparable to the hot shot forest fire fighters through their 'earth medicine' work to secure the environment for the seventh generation," said George L. Godfrey, Ph.D., vice president for academic affairs at Haskell.Earth Medicine is the name of a newsletter published by the Haskell Environmental Research Studies Center (HERS). But it also describes the new baccalaureate program in Environmental Science at Haskell, which admitted its first junior class of 19 students in August 1999. The new program aims to prepare American Indian and Alaska Native students to become warriors and policy makers prepared to deal with the myriad of environmental issues affecting tribal nations and communities.
Haskell's four-year degree expands upon its associate natural resources degree program. Both focus on sustaining Mother Earth and restoring the environmental elements that human activities have forced out of balance, Godfrey said. The faculty of Haskell developed the environmental science program with the aid of National Science Foundation and USDA funding. Knowing that graduates will work between two worlds in their future careers, the faculty combined traditional indigenous philosophy with Western scientific principles.
Core course work ranges from Geographic Information Systems to Applied Mathematics for Science in one dimension and Biochemistry to Principles of Ecology in another. After completing the core requirements, students move into environmental biology or environmental chemistry. Degrees of specialization in given areas (e.g., botany, fisheries, air quality, etc.) are possible through collaborative programs with neighboring institutions. Numerous students have gained additional experiences and launched careers through federal internships and co-op programs.
Dull Knife instructor opening USDA doors
Dull Knife Memorial College has taken a leadership role in several efforts designed to benefit all of the tribal colleges' and universities' land grant activities. In 1994, Congress designated the tribal colleges and universities as land grant institutions, making them eligible for many new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs and services. James Hafer directs the agriculture and natural resources program at Dull Knife, the tribal college on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana. He and Virgil Dupuis of Salish Kootenai College helped an Indian consulting firm, RJS & Associates, to develop and distribute agriculture curriculum to all the tribal colleges, high schools, and Extension Indian Reservation Agents.The curriculum is rich with Native American history in agriculture, including livestock, land use, and water, according to Hafer. It includes a three-volume book and CDs. American Indian agricultural producers have had less access to educational, technical, and financial services of the USDA. In fact, the department has been accused of discriminating against American Indians in recent civil rights reports and lawsuits. RJS & Association received funding from the USDA in 1998 to establish the curriculum specifically for the risk management needs of American Indian farmers and ranchers. Some of the material is designed for workshops, and the rest is designed as college level courses.
In 1999, Hafer received a fellowship from the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service and spent the summer working and studying with federal staff in Washington, D.C. Hafer is one of several tribal college instructors who have been fellows. During his fellowship summer, he began work to help tribal colleges become more involved in USDA's water quality program. He is studying the barriers to tribal colleges' participation in the program and how to overcome them. Hafer was appointed to USDA's National Advisory Leadership Team, which is composed of representatives of various land grant and sea grant institutions. Representing the tribal colleges and universities, he hopes to promote their eligibility for more USDA grants and programs.
Anyone interested in more information about the curriculum should contact Neal Rosette at RJS toll-free at 888/ 838-4757.
Fond du Lac prepares students for finance
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College (FDLTCC) is promoting business and financial services in the American Indian community with a two-year Associate of Science degree and a certificate program. The program has three specific career areas - financial services, insurance, and real estate. All of the core courses include a cultural component relating the subject matter to the American Indian world.The program uses a cohort model. In this model students take all their courses together as a group, meet weekly for cohort lunches and AIBL (American Indian Business Leaders) meetings, and meet regularly with their advisor and instructor, Bryan Jon Maciewski. An Ojibwe from the local Fond du Lac reservation, Maciewski has a master's in business administration. The students also meet with Patricia Grace, the retention counselor, who provides mentorship opportunities, guidance in transition skills, and pre-employment preparation and issues.
In the first year of the program (1999-2000), there were 21 students. Twelve of those first year students still remain, and 25 students started a new cohort in August 2000. Two of the students hold national offices in the AIBL student organization.
In addition, the college offers evening courses to the Fond du Lac community, such as money and banking, principles of real estate, and principles of insurance. Spring semester FDLTCC will offer some of the business and finance courses over interactive television to other interested sites in Indian country. The U.S. Department of Education supports the program with a $1.4 million, five-year grant to Fond du Lac and its partner, the University of Minnesota, College of Education and Human Development, Institute on Community Integration. For more information about the program, contact Bryan Jon Maciewski or Patricia Grace at 218/ 879-0819, email bjon@ezigaa.fdl.cc.mn.us, or visit the website at www.fdl.cc.mn.us.
Gardening class joins students, elders
Turtle Mountain Community College offered a new course last summer, introduction to gardening. Started to benefit students and elders, the course ultimately involved the whole community. The class was initiated after the college brought in a master gardening extension class over the telecommunication system last winter, and several college personnel received their Master Gardener Certificates.The summer class focused on hands-on learning rather than reading a textbook or being in a classroom. Students earned three credits by working on the gardens at the Turtle Mountain Retirement Home. Elders at the home served as mentors, sharing their lifetimes of gardening knowledge. Students were required to read Michael J. Caduto & Joseph Bruchac's book, Native American Gardening, but the most important assignment was to complete an hour-long interview with an elder on the subject.
The college students were the elders' knees, backs, muscle, and hands in the gardens. The elders had a long "wish list" of vegetables so the two garden plots required the assistance of several individuals and the county extension service, who donated time, seeds, and seedlings. A nursery owner out of Grand Forks donated 150 pounds of certified seed potatoes. Elder Anna Perronteau reminded students to plant flowers to attract the bees. Another elder, Rachel Parisien, promised to dance for the thunderbirds, and the rain fell in buckets that night.
"The project is an important link to our tribal history," according to Leslie Peltier, one of the certified Master Gardeners. Gardens were once essential to survival. The goals of this project are: 1) to return to a more healthy diet, 2) to provide safe sources of food for our elders, and 3) physical activity for elders and students in the fresh air and sunshine. In the future, the participants hope to raise money to purchase a greenhouse and to offer additional college courses in food production and preservation. This is one of many agricultural classes being developed under the land grant program directed by Hamley. The instructor and facilitators believe that by preserving the knowledge of their people, they are rebuilding the foundation of Chippewa culture.
Colleges expanding international agenda
Representatives from seventeen tribal colleges and universities gathered in Washington, D.C., August 10-11, to participate in the first conference on international outreach activities for tribally-controlled institutions of higher learning. Organized by the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) and hosted by the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), the two-day event drew close to a hundred participants representing federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, and universities from Latin America, the South Pacific, and Alaska. The Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Agency for International Development provided key support for the conference.AIHEC President Dr. David Gipp set the tone by challenging the multi-national audience ".to seek out and respond to indigenous peoples' concerns for self-defined education and development." Gipp highlighted AIHEC's efforts to expand the organization's international presence with indigenous populations in Russia, Latin America, and New Zealand.
One tribal college representative said the ability to survive cultural assimilation and genocide makes tribal colleges uniquely able to assist indigenous peoples now facing similar challenges in the remote corners of the world. Dr. George Godfrey of Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan., told the audience of a recently awarded USAID grant to develop a community-based water quality monitoring program in central Siberian villages. Kurt Russo of Northwest Indian College in Bellingham, Wash., described student and faculty exchanges with indigenous peoples of South and Central America to share tools and information needed to preserve their way of life. Drs. Mike O'Donnell and Lori Colomeda of Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, Mont., demonstrated their culturally relevant, internet-based distance education curriculum for aboriginal peoples in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Federal and non-federal representatives listened intently and worked quickly to identify support structures for the tribal colleges' efforts.
On the second day, programs and partnership opportunities were presented by federal agencies (Departments of Agriculture, State, Education, Commerce, Interior, and the USAID). Participants also heard from non-governmental organizations and educational institutions, such as the American Association of Community Colleges, the Amazon Alliance, University of Michigan Population Fellows Program, and the University of Guam.
"The conference concluded with a newfound sense of purpose and understanding for all the participants," according to John Phillips of AIHEC, who organized the gathering along with Yvonne Andualem of USAID. Future plans include additional technical workshops and tribal college campus visits. For more information, contact Mia Strickland at AIHEC, 703/ 838-0400 or email mstrickland@aihec.org.
Phillips appointed as first USDA liaison
In September, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) appointed John Phillips as the USDA tribal college liaison position in Washington, D.C. This is a new position in the department. This position culminates several years of negotiations between the American Indian Higher Education Consortium and USDA officials. AIHEC and USDA leadership plan to continue expanding the USDA tribal college liaison program, eventually creating a regionally based network of liaisons serving the tribal colleges.The liaison is responsible for representing the tribal colleges' interests and priorities throughout the department's programs. USDA programs include not only traditional agrarian interests but also areas such as youth development, family and nutrition services, marketing and export development, rural development, food safety, and research. Phillips also will help educate USDA personnel on the tribal colleges' strengths and capabilities.
Phillips comes to the position after several years in the tribal college movement. Prior to September, he worked at AIHEC as the director of USDA international programs and organized an international conference (see related story).
In June, he received the USDA Secretary's Honor Award for his efforts on behalf of equal opportunity. The secretary recognized his "significant efforts in developing new tribal extension initiatives for Native Americans living on reservations." For two years, he directed the cooperative extension program at Si Tanka College in South Dakota. His work encouraged home gardening, improved diet and nutrition, and youth development (see TCJ, Vol. XI, N.2, pp. 34-35). Some of his award-winning efforts benefited other tribes and colleges, including smoking prevention curriculum, food preservation curriculum, and bison internships.
Phillips also served as a Peace Corps volunteer for the Ministry of Finance in Swaziland, Africa. He earned his master's degree in environmental systems-international development in 1997 from Humboldt State University.
At the ceremonies in June, Secretary Glickman also honored two other people associated with tribal colleges. Henry Old Horn was honored for his contributions to building a strong natural resources partnership between Little Big Horn College and the USDA. Thedis Crowe, who attended Blackfeet Community College, was honored for her work to enhance tribal lands' natural resources by increasing participation of American Indian tribes in USDA programs. Both work for the Natural Resources and Conservation Service, Old Horn in Crow Agency, Mont., and Crowe in Bozeman, Mont.
USDA Secretary Dan Glickman (right) and Deputy Secretary Richard Rominger (left) present John Phillips (center) with the Secretary's Honor Award.
Little Priest serves community youth
Little Priest Tribal College provided a three-week program for the youth of the Winnebago (Nebraska) community last summer, which was designed to help the young people grow personally, physically, and academically. The college's Family and Community Violence Program originally proposed it, and other college staff added their diverse expertise. The activities included studying bison habitat, reading and analyzing a Native American "Cinderella" story, and using the native Hocak language to sing "Silent Night" and play twister. More than 50 children participated ranging in age from 10 to 17.Louie LaRose directed Week One, "Experience the Buffalo Trail." Participants learned about the history of the buffalo, methods used in raising them, and the current practices of restoring buffalo to a balanced ecosystem. The first-hand experience with the bison herd helped build participants skills in math and science while strengthening tribal traditions.
Gail Thompson and Crystal Snowball from the college's GEAR UP Program directed Week Two, "Jump Start Your College Career." Participants were exposed to college through daily classes that they selected. GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a five-year Department of Education program to help 5th, 6th, and 7th grade students prepare for college.
Elaine Rice from the Hocak Language Program directed Week Three, "Learn the Language and Culture." Fluent elders and community members utilized traditional and contemporary games to instruct the youth in the Hocak language. The language immersion activities provided a challenging and creative learning experience as well as strengthening tribal traditions through cross-generation interaction. Several tribal elders and members had participated in a Hocak Language Immersion Summer Program.
"The summer program demonstrated the power of commitment and cooperation," Gail Thompson said. "Little Priest Tribal College and the Winnebago community exemplified the saying 'it takes a village to raise a child,'" she said.
IAIA plans to improve learning success
When second-year student and peer-tutor Celeste Worl (Tlingit) returned to college this fall at The Institute of American Indian Arts, she found herself at a very different place. IAIA's new, 140acre campus site south of downtown Santa Fe is surrounded by breathtaking views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east, the Sandia Mountains to the South, and the Jemez range to the West. The college address at 83 Avan Nu Po ("Water Serpent" in the local Tewa language) describes more than the curving ribbon of road that winds its way, like the mythical creature of Tewa lore, to the high desert campus: It represents the first time in its 37-year history that the institute can claim a home of its own.And when Cody begins to tutor students in reading and writing, she will find something else new: a fully staffed learning support program devoted to tutoring and mentoring in the critical skills of English and math. A five-year Department of Education Title III grant funds the program, NATIVE CIRCLE.
NATIVE CIRCLE is a multi-layered program with a single aim: increase student retention through improving student learning success. It takes a culturally invigorated approach to counseling, mentoring, and student assessment. This learning strategy will rely upon an intense academic tracking system at the Institute, measuring student outcomes against specific program objectives and against comparable external criteria like the Tribal College Performance Indicators proposed by AIHEC.
Students are matched with peer tutors and mentors and then guided through an integrated series of support systems centered on the faculty, centralized in a computerized Learning Lab, and designed to promote academic success. With the aid of remedial specialists, peer tutors are trained to assist learning and employ modern technologies geared to support learning disabilities. "NATIVE CIRCLE hopes to broaden campus-wide involvement in positive, healthy, and productive behavior," according to Project Coordinator Richard Tobin. It will be a model for learning and living, he said.
College introduces youth to health jobs
Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College provided a Community-Based Science Program last summer for youth on the reservation in northern Michigan. It concentrated on four components: health and wellness, science/ecology, culture, and health careers. It is designed to interest tribal youth in higher education at an early age, specifically in the health professions. College personnel provided an overview of the necessary classes students need to take when they reach high school. The youth also had the opportunity to meet health care professionals and ask questions about the various job responsibilities and "how much money they make." Then the youth were brought to health care facilities to see the doctors, nurses, and technicians at work.Over 50 students, aged 8-13, participated in the six-week program. Participants took field trips to identify various plant species for traditional and medicinal purposes and to obtain information on fishing, hunting, gathering, water quality, and wildlife preservation.
Health and wellness activities included physical fitness and swimming along with presentations by health staff on tobacco use, nutrition, and wellness. The culture segment included basic Ojibwa language, storytelling, ceremonies, crafts, and a skit. The youth also enjoyed working on their own regalia for the tribe's pow wow and held a fashion show for the community elders. The program was funded by a $10,000 grant from the University of Minnesota, Center of American Indian and Minority Health.
OLC offers master's for administrators
Dawn Brave Eagle is one of a small but growing number of American Indian school teachers who are working on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. She teaches third grade students at Pine Ridge Elementary School, where one in four teachers is Native. Now, with a new program at her reservation's tribal college, Brave Eagle can pursue the master's degree required for her to become a certified school principal.Oglala Lakota College has won state certification for the first master's degree program in the nation that offers a Native culturally-based curriculum in educational administration. The tribal college's program includes four other tribal colleges in the state.
"This is an historic moment for our tribe and college," said Tom Shortbull, Oglala Lakota College president. The program is designed to address the critical shortage of Native school principals. In 27 reservation schools, only seven certified principals are Native. It was initiated with $750,000 from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. "Our graduates will re-mold our reservation schools by incorporating Lakota culture into a teaching philosophy that promotes authentic learning for our children," said Lynda Earring, Ed.D., Director of graduate programs at Oglala Lakota College. She is one of` only three Native Americans working in Pine Ridge who have Doctor of Education degrees.
OLC's program also will impact school systems on other reservations and across the state, according to Earring. The tribal college partners include Sinte Gleska University, Sisseton Wahpeton Community College, Si Tanka College, and Sitting Bull College.
The program began in 1999 as a collaboration with the University of South Dakota. The first educational master's degree courses were offered at Oglala Lakota and at Sitting Bull College, which has a campus in McLaughlin. Currently, there are 13 students enrolled in the program, with many more eligible. The new program will support the professional development needs of tribal college faculty and reservation school teachers for graduate-level courses. Now, Oglala Lakota leaders hope to expand the degree program to the doctoral level.
The Kellogg Foundation helped launch OLC's first master's degree with a grant in 1988. There are currently a total of 42 graduate students at the tribal college.
Menominee erect cedar cultural center
In August the College of the Menominee Nation (CMN) dedicated its Cultural Learning Center on the reservation in central Wisconsin. This was the 17th center built in the American Indian Higher Education Consortium's (AIHEC) national initiative to create repositories for art and culture at each member institution. The cultural learning centers result from a partnership with the National Association of the Home Builders Log Home's Council, whose members have donated log material packages to 29 tribal colleges across the country.CMN President Dr. Verna Fowler said the prime purpose of the center will be teaching the Menominee language. Alan Caldwell, director of the Menominee Cultural Institute at CMN, said the language is the lifeblood of the Menominee people.
The large, 64' x 48' cedar building is called Omaeqnonenewak Pematesenewak, which means "the Menominee Way of Life." It features cedar log siding on the outside, cedar siding on the inside, and massive 18-inch diameter cedar posts and beams. Since the timbers are 100 years old, they were growing on the reservation when the Menominee language was spoken frequently. Caldwell estimated the value of the center at $350,000, almost half of which has been donated. The college covered $200,000 of the cost, he said. The basement will have a recording and listening lab for language, a computer lab for the veterans' program, and archives. The new building will also be used for cultural programs, theater productions and musical events, classes, and community space for workshops and mini pow-wows.
The CMN Board of Directors honored some of the donors. Stephen Biggs, president of Town & Country Cedar Homes of Petoskey, Mich., and Tim Casey from Northern Visions of Eagle River, Wis., were given tribally-produced maple syrup and wild rice. The new building was funded by private sector grants from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Lilly Endowment and material donations from national companies, Carrier, Inc., Elk Roofing, and Kohler Co. Local contributors included Arrowhead Construction, Knope Roofing and Furnace Co., Architects Group Limited, O'Kimosh Construction, Wilber Construction, and the Menominee Tribal Enterprise. Orman Waukau directed construction on the center, assisted by the CMN Pre-Apprentice Carpentry Class.
Orman Waukau, head of the CMN pre-apprentice carpentry program; Dr. Verna Fowler; Steve Biggs, president of Town & Country Cedar Homes; and Bob Schweder, a staff member for U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold. Photo by Antonio Ruales
CIT promotes holistic environmental training
Since its inception in 1996 as a one-year certificate program, Crownpoint Institute of Technology's Environmental Technology and Natural Resources program has evolved into a two-year degree. Developed and directed by Department of Natural Resources Chairman Steven Chischilly, the program is closely in touch with the needs of the Navajo Nation.Geographic Information Systems (GIS) study began here on the New Mexico campus two years ago as a component of environmental technology. This fall, GIS became a separate program with one-year certificates. Chischilly expects that by 2001 the GIS program also will offer associate degrees.
"In 1996 there was a big push by the Department of Energy to get Native American representation in environmental clean-up on the reservations," Chischilly said, "so our early focus was on technology. But environmental issues are complex and many-sided, and we want students to know that you can't work in a vacuum. You must understand environmental problems from a variety of perspectives to solve them. Over the past two years we've shifted to a more holistic approach that includes economic and social aspects. For example, our students study the National Environmental Policy Act. They study federal environmental regulations and Navajo Nation EPA programs. They learn to write environmental assessments. They even hold 'scoping meetings' where they gather input from local elders on grazing, hydrology, soils, and environmental-cultural questions."
Second-year students receive more specialized instruction. This includes such diverse topics as asbestos contractor/supervisor training, first responder/emergency response training, and wetlands delineation. This year a Department of Defense grant will allow students to research the environmental effects of solid waste dumping in the Crownpoint area. GIS mapping and research data will help the Navajo tribal government to prioritize dumping sites. This year, the program moved into the recently completed Science and Business Technology building.
CIT's environmental technology graduates are achieving noteworthy success on the job and in pursuing further education. Vernon Brown is a water analyst with the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority. Charleston Morgan graduated from the University of New Mexico with a B.S. in electronics. Dianne Kee does environmental assessments with the Bureau of Land Management, and Robert Curleyhair has accepted a co-op position at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia.
Steve Chischilly and Doug Bocaz-Larson unwrap the new plotter, one of several sophisticated pieces of equipment used by environmental technology students.
Ft. Belknap offers entrepreneurial training
Lana Ulrich, a student at Fort Belknap College in Harlem, Mont., earned third place in the NxLevel Business Plan Competition sponsored by the Department of Commerce Small Business Development Center last spring. She developed a business plan to provide mortuary services to much of eastern Montana. U.S. West Foundation, which provided the grant for the development of the NxLevel Entrepreneurial Training Courses, also provided the prize money of $200. This annual contest is open to all students who have completed the NxLevel course."This type of training supports Montana's entrepreneurs in becoming better prepared to manage businesses successfully," said David Davidson. "A business plan is the principal tool for attracting money and for properly structuring financing whether it is a start-up or existing business. NxLevel provides a practical, hands-on approach to developing a small business."
Fort Belknap's NxLevel Entrepreneur Training Program takes entrepreneurial education a step beyond the norm. As part of Fort Belknap's Small Business Development Center, the program has the challenge of introducing entrepreneurial thinking to a culture that hasn't traditionally embraced entrepreneurs, Davidson said. The process involves refining the best of entrepreneurial thought into culturally sensitive curricula and weaving it into the fabric of a rich Native American tribal heritage.
The NxLevel Program is a product of the Western Entrepreneurial Network (WEN) of the University of Colorado, Denver, and is funded by U.S. West. NxLevel Entrepreneur is a business course that teaches planning skills ranging from developing business concepts to developing a comprehensive business plan. An important element of the curriculum is that organizations can modify the course materials to meet the unique needs of their clients.
As an example of cultural refinement, the Small Business Development Center combined the American Indian Entrepreneurs (AIE) curriculum (developed two years ago by Lisa Brian of Sinte Gleska University and Michelle Landsdowne of Salish Kootenai College) with the NxLevel Entrepreneur materials. The AIE curriculum consists of case studies that profile American Indians from the Rosebud, Pine Ridge, and Flathead reservations as business role models. Tribal colleges have traditionally relied on curriculum designed for national markets that don't address the culturally complex issues that are encountered in growing businesses on Indian reservations. The blending of the two curriculums helps prospective Indian entrepreneurs understand the business challenges that are unique to Indian reservations.
Working in this innovative manner, the program has achieved a significant level of success, Davidson said. Since the spring of 1996, approximately 65 students have participated in the entrepreneurial training course, and 15 new businesses have started up.
Remote sensing lab now at Leech Lake
Leech Lake Tribal College instructors now use satellite images of the earth from space as a resource for their students. The school has entered into a partnership with the University of Cincinnati and NASA's Glenn Research Center in Minnesota to test a prototype remote sensing/ distance learning laboratory funded through NASA and the OhioView Consortium.The OhioView consortium is a group of high tech organizations whose mission is to deliver low-cost satellite imagery and data to educational institutions and the general public. Leech Lake Tribal College will serve as a remote test site where distance learning technology will facilitate the distribution of satellite data and college courses in remote sensing. "We are very honored to be a part of this dynamic project" says Michael Wassegijig Price, chairman of the science and mathematics department at Leech Lake.
The laboratory will consist of six computer stations equipped with two-way audio/visual capability so that instructors from the University of Cincinnati can interact with tribal college students. A server will be installed to house the software and data along with a satellite dish, which will link the laboratory to the University of Cincinnati via NASA communication satellites.
In January 2001, Leech Lake Tribal College will offer its first course in Basic Remote Sensing, which will be taught by Dr. Richard Beck, project director and founder of the OhioView Consortium at the University of Cincinnati. Todd Hanson will be a co-instructor who will assist students at the tribal college.
The remote sensing laboratory will give Leech Lake the capability to train students and personnel on how to analyze and utilize landscape data from NASA's Landsat 7, photographic satellite. Remote sensing technology helps natural resource managers and tribal councils to better manage land use and natural resources such as wild rice beds, maple sugar bush, and forests within the reservation boundaries.
Oral traditions can help solve problems
Utilizing cultural traditions to enhance community development was the focus of a recent course at Red Crow Community College (RCCC). The course (Restoring Indigenous Ways: Community Development Planning and Practice in First Nations Communities) examined how Blood Tribe traditions, culture, and spirituality are being incorporated into the problem solving process.About 24 people from Southern Alberta gathered on July 23-27 for an experiential cross-cultural immersion workshop. Participants included social workers, community planners, community workers, students, and faculty. The workshop was designed to examine ways in which traditional indigenous healing practices can be incorporated into the education and practice of community organizers, planners, and social workers.
First Nations have been increasingly concerned that western approaches to community development planning have minimized or ignored the vital perspectives of First Nations people. RCCC agreed to host this unique gathering to learn about community development efforts on the Blood Indian Reserve. The workshop was planned to coincide with the annual Sundance, a traditional community and spiritual event.
Participants explored with tribal and community educators how traditional spiritual, historic, and cultural traditions are gradually being used to guide and support community development efforts. For example, the elders present over the weekend stressed the use of oral traditions as a basic learning tool. Participants were urged not to take notes but to listen carefully and to remember what was said. "The elders really stressed that we should be able to absorb things through listening and by utilizing all our senses," said one attendee.
An RCCC student counselor who participated said, "It helped me to realize that when you are in the social work field, you have to respect everything about a person like their religious beliefs and cultural background. Also, one of the speakers made me realize how fortunate we are to have this land base (Blood Reserve) that we can always come back to, and that we have such a strong attachment to the land." In order to receive college credit from the University of Calgary Faculty of Social Work, participants had to hand in a journal of their thoughts and an academic paper.