- Humboldt Digital Scholar

/
Native American Students
in the Sciences
umboldt State University
(HSU) ha s been a leader in the
recruitment and ret ention of
Na ti ve American Students in sci ences and e ngineeri ng and is currently e:-; panding its efforts to e ncourage Na ti \·e
American s tud e nts to prepare for careers in
biomedical sciences. A variety of well es tablished prog rams d esigned to recruit an d
support N ati ve American s tudents in the
sciences, as well as proposal s for ne\,. prog rams, hi ghlight H SU's e nerge tic commitment to sol idify in g a l\'ati\·e American
presence in th ese cruci,1l fie ld s.
Emphasiz ing recruitm ent, re tentiun
a nd suppo rt of min ority s tud en ts is especially im po rtant in the case of Natin~ Ameri ca ns in th at Am e ri ca n Ind iclns arc the ]e,lst
rep rese nted of a ll minorities in hczdth and
biom e dic:d research d isciplines. In 1990,
o nl v 1-l-7 lndi ,mstud ents in th e US rccei\·ed
Bache lor's de g rees in Bi o logical / Life sci e nces fie ld s. In spite of th e m·erall incre,1sc
in col lege e nrollment of American lndi,ms /
Ala s kan Nati ves in recen t yecHS, few stu d e n ts h ave se lec ted he a Ith I Ii fe sc ie nce as
thei r course o f study. H SU cont inu es to
address thi s s ituati o n th roug h a variety of
academ ic e ffort s.
In scien ce an d e ng ineering, HSU h,1s
37 Na ti ve Am erica n s tud ents curren tl v enrol led , and boas ts a 97'}(, re te ntion rak' of
e nte rin g N,1ti ve Ame rican stud e nts over the
past three years. Ove r the past seve ral yt:><lrs,
the uni vers ity ha s supple mented its effl1rts
to recru it, reta in, and support Na ti,·e America n s tudents th ro u g h a variety of progra ms.
The Indian Natural Resource, Science, &
H
Enginee rin g Pro g ram (I N RSEP) in conpe ration w ith HSL' s D epartment of Biological Sciences has recei,·ed t\1 o-+-ye,u grants
from the Howard Hu ghes Medical In s titute
to enhance I\ati\·e .-\me rica11 shtdent recrui tme nt, retention, and success in the bio logic,ll
sciences. Ad di tion ally, l 0iRSEP's wi d era n g in g academic Jnd s upp urt sctTices
further th e go,1 l oi so lid ifving I\ati,·e
American participatinn in the sciences.
Indian Natural Resource , Science, &
Engineering Program, INRSEP
IN RSEP, begu n in FJ/-+, is an ,1cad e mi c
support p rogram for A merican lnd i,1n ,1nd
A l,1sb n Natin:' stud ents p ursuing degrees
in the scie nces and natural resource di sc ipl ines. Wth the aLhice of an acad e mic ,ld visOt~ students d e,·elop a n ind i vid ua !majo r
prog ram within specified parame ters and
are encouraged to use key serv ices including
pe rso nal counseling, career counseling and
lower di vis io n academic ad vising. lN RSEP
students are also encouraged to ta ke s pecialized courses intended fo r Na ti ve A m erican
students including: Introduc tion to N,1tin:
America n Perspectives on Na htral Resource
M,m,l gement, N ati ve American Tribal Go ve rnm ent, Principles of Federal Indian Law,
and In trodu ction to N,1ti ve American Water
Rights. INRSEP services ex te nd to a wid e
variety of m ajors including biological science,
chemis try, computer informatio n sys te m s,
enviro nm en ta l engin eerin g, fi sh eries, for estry I w at e rs hed m ,1n,1gement, geoll1gy,
m,1thematics, natural resources plannins <md
(<"ontinucd on
pose 2!
interpret~tion, ~{{~sing, oceanography,
to deliver quality science instruction and
physics, range management, and wildlife
to strengthen efforts to recruit Native
management.
·: '· ...
·-~ ·
.
American students to the sciences. The
'· Alorig with its core ~up port services, ";;·~ grant offered the opportunity for INRSEP to
INRSEP is active in collaborating with a
hlre a recruiter and to develop recruitment
variety of organizations to further ' ·(..
;.::.. :-"'" -
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Undergraduate Biomedical Researc;-'
Grant/ Undergraduate Biologic
Sciences Education Program
'-...____..
Currently, HSU is in the first
year of its second 4-year HHMI
its goals . INRSEP currently runs ~~;;;;~~~?E~sm~~ii5;~~3§ii3!2!~2!Eiii
a program in cooperation with
grant which furthers the goals of
the Northern California Insupporting minority students in
the biomedical science s . Th e
dian Development Council
(NCIDC) that provides work expepurposes o f thi s prog ram are to
pro vid e und erg raduate reseJ rch
rience in a mentorship setting for
IN RSEP program s tud ents . Last
o p po rtu niti es by mvZi rd in g stusu mmer, IN RSE P pa rtnered w ith
d ents trJ vel money for scientifi c
N Cl DC, the Hoopa Tribe, the
conferences ZI S well ZI S providing
Yurok Tribe and the Karuk Tribe
equipment u se d in s tud e nt
to bring 12 Indi an youth up the Klaproj ects . The grant fund s Jre
math ri ve r. Th e pr o jec t titled
al so be in g u se d to enh ,mc e
"Project Salmon People" exlabo ratories at HSLJ by put·ch,lsposed the parti ci pa nts to na tural
ing addition J l e quipm e nt.
resou rce a nd science caree r issues
Un iqu e to th is g ra nt is th e Acaa nd the local Tribal cultures in redemic Excellence Initiative
!Jtion to the salmon. Over the past
whi ch h,1s org,mi zed 23 s u p ~'le­
few vea rs IN RSEP students haw
mentJ n· cou rses in scienCL' ,md
received over 530,000 in scholarmath with 200 stud ents em nl led
ships from the American Indian
per se mes ter. The intent l,f thi s
Science and Engineering Society
<1s p ect of the pr og rJm i,; tl1
(AISES) as a result of their assostreng then stud e nts' Jbili ty ts
ciation with the IN RSEP s poncompete success full y at tl1L' u t
sored AISES stud ent chapter. And,
derg raduate lev el in th e sc
IN RSEP's early out reach (k-12) efences, with the self-estee m ,m d ~---­
fo rts are in th e ir infancy with
pos iti ve expe rie nces necess.1ry
much fruit to bear in the future .
tu pursue grZiduate degreL'~ . Tl1L'
IN RSEP's Di re ctor is Dr. Russell
mJteriZils. The grZint also enabled !0:RSEP to
gra n t ,1lso p ro ,·id es five $3, 000 ZI\\ '<1i' d~ fl'l
Boham (Little Shell Chippewa) who is ops tud en ts w ho wish to und e rtZike resc.1rch
establish a link with the University of Calitimistic about the future o f the progrZi m
fornia San Francisco (UCSF) Health Sciences
in bi o m edical fi eld s at HSU durin g thL'
and says," lribal self- government is gainsumm e r nwnth s.
Cilmpus to provid e summe r residency
ing strength and with Tribes tZiking more
Th e pro g rZi m al so prov ide s colp rogrJms in biomedical researd1 for program
control of their destinies, the need for memlZib o rat ive link s betw ee n Hum bu ld t
students. The aims of the grJ.nt were al so to
bers educated in the scien ces and natural
prepJre Jnd retain minority studen ts in the
StJte Uni ver sit y, Coll ege of th e Re dresources become s e ven more crucial.
w ood s, Jnd two Triball y contwl le d
fi eld of molecular biology and guide stuIN RSEP will continue to p rov ide opportuM ont a n.1 co mmunity co ll eges (Salish
d ents towJrd s cJreers in biomedical sciKootenai College and Fort Peck Com nities fo r Indian peo ple to ga in the educaences; the project also served to im prove
tion they need to serve their own th ro ugh
munity College). Stud e nts at the cu mcurriculum, equipm ent and t1bo ratory d ethe sciences and na tural resources"
munit y coll e g e le ve l ar e pro\ id e d
ve lo pment, implemented by reno\·Jting
fundin g to p a rticipate in scien ce eduand equipping a ne w biotechn ol og~· laboratory facility. In Jddition, physiok)gy and
cati o n a c ti v iti es thZit d e velop their
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
undergraduate reseZirch bborilto ries were
int e r es t in th e biom e dical <H e a.
Undergraduate Biological Sciences
equipped with wmputers . The Howard
Dr. Jacob Varkey, a bi o logy pro fes so r
and th e project's Dire ctor, hop es Jll
Hughes grant also supports seven Nati ve
Education Program
American student scholarships of $3,000
facet s of the prog rZim will continu e to
HSU WZIS awa rded its first Howard
per year for study in the sciences, Zind sevde ve lo p as mor e stud e nts b e come
Hughes grJnt in 1993 and used thi s
awZir e o f th e unique opportuniti es
eral minori ty students we re awarded tra vel
HSU ha s to offer.
funding to develop the university's Jbility
money to Jttend scientific conferences.
2 .A THE MESSENG ER
uring the Fall1997 semester, there were 3,376 majors
in the College of Natural Resources and Sciences (CNRS)
or 45% of the total majors at HSU. HSU
has long been known as THE natural resources u ni\·ersity in California and its
program s h,we achieved a status far beyo nd the re lati,·e size of the instituti o n.
There ilre H3 permanent f<~culty in 15
departments and 1 progr<~m w here und ergr<~dui1te progrJmm<~tic options r<~ ng e from
A to Z-fro m Aqu<~nilhtre Jnd Appropri<1te
Technolog\· to Zoology. The depJrtmental
compDsiti on llf th e college includes:
natural resources and science programs;
students and faculty take full ad vantage
of these opportunities.
The list of support programs w hi ch
provide additional depth and quality to
CNRS programs is very ex tensi ve. Th e
College is especiall y proud of the Indian
Natural Resources, Sciences, and Engineering Program (INRSEP) which
provides s upport ser v ices for N ati ve
AmericJn students both in the Cl\RS and
across the CJ m pus.
• Biol ug ic,ll Sciences • Chemi stry •
Cumpu ting Science • Em·iron. Res.
Engineering • Em·ironmenti11 Science
• Fisheries • Fl1restry I Watershed
l'vlanJgement • Geo logy • tv1,1themi1 tics
• Naturi1l Resource Planning and
terpret,1tion • f\iursing • Oceanot;ri1phy
Phy sics • Ps,-chuk1gy • R,lllge l,l!ld
ResDurces & \\'ildland • Wildlife
From Left: Carla Douglas, Associate
CNRS h,1s the brgest underg r,1 duate
progrJms in the nation in Bot<:llly, Environ- Dean Steven Carlson, Dean James Smith,
Linda Doerflinger, and Sandy Barry
mental Resources Engineering, Fisheries, ,
I
Wild life, i1nd l\'ahtri11 Resources Planning.
The pro gr<~ms in Chem istry, Engineering,
Forestry, N ursing, and Psychology are
Early March welcomed the arrival of
fully accredited by national professional
a ne w marine research and tea ching vesorg<~n i zations.
sel, the Heman Corte:. This vessel
At the grJehti1te level, students can
complements th e faciliti es o f th e
obta in a tV'I<~ster of Arts in Biology, a Ma sTelonicher Marine Lab in Triniebd prote r of Science in Environm e nt<~! s,·s tems
vidin g high quality educatiunal o p~''lrtu­
and a Masten1fScience in Nahtral Resources.
nities for students in OceJnography,
Both of the MS degrees offer i1 number of
Marine Biology, and elsewhere.
Other in-h o use facilities include the
subspeci<~liz<~tions. Adjusted for size, the
college h i1s the la rgest production of future
onlv
. Game Pens and Fish Hatcherv. in the
Ph.D's in the ni1ti on-a number which is
CSU system, the NaturJ! History tv luseum,
tw ice that of any other CSU c<~mpus.
the Ca mpus Center fnr Ap propriate TechHSU lies in J wry special p!Jce on the
nology, the Marine Wild life Care <;:enter,
North Coast. The <~rea is blessed with ,1 rich
the Spati<ll Analysis Lab fL'r geographic inco<~stal etw ironment w h ere abundant
formation sys te m s and remote sens ing
teaching and severa l greenh ouses, h erocean and biophysical resources provide
sp iritual i1nd economic vitality to the
batiJ, and systematic specimen collectiun:-;.
The D<wis Hou se Counseling Clinic is
•· · · iclll. As iln in~titution, H SU is imm ersed
earh·. ide,ll n<lhtrall,lboratorv
for
our
opera
ted by the Psychologv DepMtnk'nt
.
providing training for practitioners and
services for clients. Three CNRS-sponso rcd
in stitutes are a cti,·e in the college : the
lnstihtte for Ecol ogical Touri sm, the Ins titute
for Rive r Ecosystems, and the Geographic
and Spatii11 Information Sys te ms Ins titute.
Several pri\·i1te ly-endow ed facilities
enrich our progrJms enormous ly. The
Schatz Energy ReseMch Center is working
on hydrogen and fuel cell research and ha s
alread y produced innm·i1ti\'e altcrn,1ti\ e
ene rgy designs. The :VIcle,ltl Research Fllrest and the C,1lbre,1th R,lllch Jre nahtral ],1bllratorics utilized by ,1 ,,· ide' variety of cl,1 sscs.
A number Ll f fedL·r ,ll ,1gcncies M e'
present o n or nc,H campu s. The Redwood
Sciences L1b n f the US Forest Se'tTicc is "ju s t
up the hill"; the C o ,J~'er ,lti\ e Fi o; hery Ln it
and Ni1tura1 ReSLlUt.CL'S Cl1n sen·,1tilltl Se'rv ice (N RCS ) ,ue on campu s; RL'dl,.llLl d
Nation,l l Park th e Bure,lUllf La nd :\bn,l ge'ment, and the LS Fi sh ,1nd Wildlife Sen·ice
all hm·c o ffices ,,·ithin ,1 mile uf Glm~' u ::; .
Many of the scienti s ts in thes<.' ,1gencies ,HL'
Adjunct Facult\ in the C\RS.
Th e Cl'\RS is e s ~'e'ci,llil · prnud llf its
hand s-on ,lprrn,Kh tc1 te,Khing :Vlllst 11f the·
classes i1re t,lltght b:· senillr L1cult\ and
man y f<Kulty in HJ ln' bl1th uneiL•rgr,ldu,ltc'
and graduate studen ts in their rese,Hch.
Most co urses spend ,1 great dc,1l of time in
the lab or in the fi e ld actu,llly implementing
the th eor ies and procedures students in
o ther pl,lCes only get to re,1d ,1bout. Students have access tLl equipm e nt, facilitie s,
and col lect ions th,lt Me tvpically un ,l\',lilab le elsewhe re.
The Associate Dean of C N RS, Ste\·e
Carlson, is p roud of the \\'Ork o f the College: "T he im pt·essiw reput,1tion of the
CNRS has been built o n the success of s tudents w h o ha ve ho tlllred us in the pa s t an d
w ho have excelled in the working world.
We look forward to Cl'n tinuing our hi s tory
of excell ence: This Is ,1 history built on the
backs of J highly committed faculty and
staff w here the interc-; ts of the student are
p,Hamount and \\'hL't·e· the students arc as
committed as the ins titution."
SPRING 1998 .._
3
he Title IX program at
McKinleyville High School is
helping local Native American
students to prepare for the future
and work to become leaders in their communities. Title IX is a program funded
through the Federal Government in which
Native American students can
receive tutoring and academic services. According to Title IX coordinZ~tor Karen Skoglund (Hupa), the
program focus depends on the results of ,1 needs assess ment that is
conducted at least every two years
<lmong parents. Currentlv, the focus
of the progr,lm is to provide most
of the -!2ll enrolled students academic and cultural sen·ices. These
services include ilCademic tutoring,
attending workshops and participating in student clubs.
The McKinleyville High
School Native American Club, one
of the clubs supported in part by
Title IX funding, is active at their
school with 2ll members currently
enrolled. Students in the club hope
to visit San Francisco on an educational field trip late in the school
year, and are currentl y planning
fund-raisers with this in mind.
According to Karen, one of
the most impotant events sponsored bv Title IX is the Success in Both
Worlds Conference, held every other year
at McKinleyville High School. This conference typically draws over 300 Native
American high school students from Del
Norte, Mendocino, Hoopa and Humboldt counties. The conference focuses on
positive role modeling, strengthening
Tribal culture and staying in school. Last
year's conference featured the Native
American author Greg Sarris, who wrote
4 .t. THE MESSENGER
the book Grand Al•cJwc which 'vVas later
made into an HBO movie.
"We have great support from all the
local Tribes during these conferences,"
explained Karen, "There's no \Yay they
could be successful without this support.
The conference is a good leadership
activity for Indian students, <1nd we hope
to have more local Indian student club
pilrticipation in next year's conference."
The conference is courdinated by the
McKinleyville High School Natil'e American Club . These students <1re in charge of
deciding whilt each conference will be
about and <1re currently planning next
year's event.
Title IX is also <1ctive in providing tutoring in local element<lry schools, helping
students with their reading and writing
skills. According to Karen, recent parent
meetings have focused on formulating a
plan on grant proposals fur the next funding cycle uf Title IX services. A future gu,ll
for Title IX is the develupment uf a
reso urce listing uf curriculum, book s,
1·ideus ,1nd other material hn
te,1chers to intq.;ratc into their
cl,1sswom lessun s .
Karen Gruetzmacher (Yurok/
Karuk) tutt1rs in Arcata, Blue
Lake and Fieldbrook ,b .111 L'l11 plul·eL' ,,f Title 1\. 5hL' ,1L;,, duL·~
class1·uum Ies~,Jn s un loc ,1l
hi stnn. C1 n,il· Philli~'' is tlw
stud L'll t ,1,11 i ''' 1· at L'll t h
i\lcKinleniliL' ,1nd t'\rc.1t,1 Hi .~ ·'
Schtluls 11hile 11orking fm Ti
IX. She zdso 11·orks with hi g1.--..-/
school students ilt Pacific Cu,bt
<1nd Tsur,1i ContinuJtion SchtlLlk
Kc1renSkoglund tutLlrs students in addition to courdin,1ting Title IX, <1nd she hopes tu
continue to sen·ice the h.id~
\\·hile providing i1 positi ve rule
mudel. "If we Ciln re<1ch the kids
ilt i1 yuung <1ge they Ciln leilrn to
be successful and build-up their
confidence level," she stated.
Title IX will focus on c<1reer
or college-bound Native
Americ<ln students in their next cycle of
services. The mission stiltement for the
progr<1m cleMly states the go<1ls fur the immediate future: "The Northern Humboldt
Indian Education Program is designed to
increJse the educ<ltional achievement, promote gradu<1tion, enhilnce academic <1nd
career opportunities and increilse the cultural knowledge ,1nd identification for
Americ<ln Indian students <1nd ed uc<1tors
in Northwestern Humboldt County."
he California State Department of Rehabilitation
(DR) is currently increasing its outreach efforts to Native Americans in Humboldt County. A wide variety of
ervices designed to assist people in getting b ack to work
are ava ilable to Native Americans, but are rarely used . According
to the "Report on Disability in California" prepared by J. Merrill
Shonks (1993) for the DR, Native Americans have twice the disability rate for all Ca li fornians (20.S'X,), w hile the percentage
of Nati\·e Americans who u se these vital se rvices is a mere
2"i;,. Because the unemployment rate on rese rvZJtions h<1 s
clim bed to ,1lmost 80"1.,, a prilll·it:' for the agency is di stribu ting rele\·,mt information abnut sen· ices, eli gibility ilnd lngi stics tn the Nilti\·e AmericJn
communit\· llf Humbold t Countv.
Services: The Depi1rtme nt of Reh,1bilitati l'n is a state <1gency thJt ,1ssists
peopl e with dis<1bilities in enterin g
•l1e work force or returning to work
.:l li \·ing ind epende ntl y in
--..__..;.ei r CL'lllmu n ities. The DR fLJcuses on infLHmed ch o ice Jnd
s uccess in ed u cil tilln, voca tionzd
trilining career oppn rtunities, ind e pendent li\·i ng and in the use of assisti\·e
technoiL'gy tL1 im~1rove emplovment opportunities and the qu<1lity of li fe . !v!ost of the
<1gency' s sen·ices me free <1nd include counseling and \'l1CJtiLlni11 assessment, \'OCiltionJ! trilining,
resum e development, and job pl<1ce nwnt. Assistive
devices and <1daptive equipm e nt such as CJ nes, driving
aids, 't<llking' books, customized re<1ching devices <1nd more
are also <Wililabl e throu gh the dep<1rtment. Additionally, the
DR can provide college / uni versity tuition, books and supplies,
a nd tril nspo rtation assistance to work or school. Cli e nts are a lso
able to obtain empl oyer-required goods and services such as clothing, uniforms, tools, or union dues. Interpre ting and note-tilking
se rvices are Jlso Ctl\'ered along with any other services relev<1nt to
tr<1ining Jnd job placement in an appropri<1te work setting.
Eligibility: Eligibility for services is b<1sed on an individual
having i1 physical o r mental impairment th<lt makes it difficult to
get and keep employment and is considered a 'significant imped iment'. Qu,1!ifying di sabilities include ph ysical impairments,
mental health conditions, learning diso rders, and substzmce
<1buse. In thL' case of substance abuse, individuals must prese nt
themselves clea n and sober for a minimum of 60 da ys and be
participating in some form of treatment such as a 12-step program. Also covered are vision, speech and hearing impairments.
Transition Partnership Program (TPP): In Feb ru ary of
1997, the Departme nt of Rehabilitati o n, in cooperation with
the Humboldt County Office of Education . offered its Transition Partnershi p Program services to disabled High School
students at Hoopa High School. The program ha s been
operating for severa l vears in high schools thmughout
Humboldt Count\· and C1liforni,1. TPP pro \·ides
work experience, cHee r ex plLlr,l tion, coll ege ur
\'OC.ltit1n,1l tr,1ining and JL'b ~,l,1cement SL'n· ices
lL1 eligible studen ts. Currently about 20 studenb, the m.1jt,rity of which ,ue \:ati\'L'
Americ1n. ,1re ~'<Hti c i~1,1t ing in tlw
prog ram ,1t HoL1~,,1 Hi gh and Captain John High School
Michelle Brown, <1 reha bilit,ltiLln CoutbL'lLH in
Eureb . is enthu s i,htic
about tlw outrL',1ch ~,r ogr,1m tL' \:,1ti\T Anwric,m~ in
high sclWl'ls Jnd thwu ghL,u t
Humbuldt count\·. "It's impL'rLm t
to let people ktll'\\. th,1t \\·e ,1rL' llL'I'L' ,md
\\'e can h e l~1, " notes i\ls. Bmwn. ":-.. L1m
peopl e simply don 't know that they <1re eli gible for Llllf sen·ices <1nd we urge thnse pcn~,k·
to call or stop by for information."
Two rece nt examples of Na tive Americ.1ns
who were ass isted by th e Department of Rehilbilitation include i1 mJn w ho su ffered from diabe tes-re lated
blindness and a woman with a long hi s tory of substance
abuse. The N ati ve American \\'Oman is now comp leting her
college degree and is reported to be an exceptiona l student.The
Na tive American m,lll, who could nn longe r see well enough
to read or write, is now able tll m.1n,1ge his personal affairs
independe ntl y through training in braille he received from the
DR. "These are the kind of success stories," says Michelle
Brown, "that milke our age nc y's work so crucial.
" ... I just want to be sure that the Native
American community knows tlzat our services are
available to them ."
SPRING 1998 .& 5
American Indian Civics Project:
The W.K. Kellogg Grant Facilitates Systematic Change_
or years at Humboldt
State University (HSU) as
well as universities throughout the country, students have
been required to take government and civics courses whi ch largely ignore Native American perspectives. In
1994, some ded ica ted Na ti ve American
students at HSU decided to take action
by writing and prese nting Resolution
#9 4-R-01 which demanded sy stemic
change in histo ry and civics instructio n
at the uni versitv level. The students who
wrote the resol:ttion w ere members of the
Indian Teacher and Educational Personnel Program (ITEPP) Student Club . The
students complained that not onl y were
N<tti ve American topics rarely broached
in th e ir classes, but w h en the y were
brou ght up, th e s tudents th emse lves
we re called upon to be the ex perts. Students brought thei r complaints to Laura
lee George (Karuk), Directo r of ITEPP,
who suggested that the stud ents coalesce
their id eas into a reso lution for change
to be presented to the uni vers ity president. The students went farther; they presented Resolution 94-R-01 to the hi ghest
authority in the California State University system-the Chancellor's office.
The resolution called for the California University State System to educate
its students regardi ng the unique status
of Am er ican Indians and Ala skan
Natives in order to rectify "misconceptions and stereotypical pe rspecti ves" endured by Na ti ve American students. The
document reads in part: " NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Indian
Teacher and Educational Personnel Program Student Club calls upon the California State University to implem ent a
system wide change to include the government to governme_nt rela~l.onship
between American -Indi.a n and Alaska
Native 1\ations and the United States of
America . .. '~The resolution goes on to
6 A
THE MESSENGER
request that " the California State Unive rsity adopt a policy requiring the inclusion
of the American Indian and Alaskan native legal principles and fram eworks in
ex is ting American Institutions req uirements or provide separate courses th a t
m ee t the state regulations so that all
students will be made aware and knowled geable of the special status of American Indians and Alaskan Natives." As it
turns out, an executive order from the
chancellor's office already requi red such
curricular change, but little was being
and severa l others faci litated a wo rking
rel ationship w ith the W.K. Kellogg Fo undati o n of Battle Creek Michigan whose
"Capturing the Dream" initiative has committed $22 .2 million over the nex t fi ve
years to help colleges and uni versiti es create a range of learning opportunities for
Na ti ve Americans. The Kellogg Foundation in vited HSU to apply fo r fund s availabl e for the type of system-wide project
HSU had in mind.
The American Indian Civics Project
d one to implement the necessary revisions. Resolution 94-R-01 helped create
the momentum for concrete action in university curriculum.
The resolutio n was well recei ved at
a national conference, and the search for
_ways to impl ement the type of systemic
'•change the students were suggesting be. gan. Lois Risling (Hupa), Director of the
Center for Indian Community Development (CICD), Pro\·ost Alfred Guillaume,
HSL, in conjunction 11· ith DQ University (.1 2-ye<H Trib,1liy controlled uni \ ersity in Cal iforni<1),11·as a11·arded fund s to
implement a ~ -ye,lf project designed t('
infu se Ame rican Indi an ci,·ics into the c•
riculum of bo th gm·ernment and hi s to
Insti tutions cour~es as well as bring that
content knowledge into th e K-12 ci,lSs room s of Hum bo ldt County. During thi :;,
the first year of the project, DQ Uni\ersity (DQ U) and HSU His to ry, Poli tica l Science, and Ln1· faculty particip.1ted in ,1
series of tr,lini ng sessions on Trib,1i gmernance and citize nsh ip. A se ries of presentations, open to the public and quite
well-attended, were held this year at HSU
featu ring nationa lly know n experts in the
fi e ld s of La w, the en viro nment, Indi an
gaming, and sovere ignty. The facult y are
currentl y working on developing courses,
course outlines, syllabi and readings on
Tribal governance and citizenship for use
in the general ed ucation required Institutions courses at DQU and HSU. Faculty
are also de velopi ng materials to train 100
Humb o ldt county teachers and Master
teachers in 1998. Dr. Dee McBroome, a
history professor and the project's coo rdinato r, is optimistic about the success o f
the project so far, and is leading the curricular change. She describes the parti
pating facult y as ha vin g "moved t
position where they recognize the fallacy
of seeking a 'national approach to American Indian civics, and instead realize the
nece ssi ty of looking at what vario us
Tribal groups have experien ced in the
century. " As the first year of the
~ ogg Project winds down, Professo r
McBroome believes there is now "a common understanding of basi c issues for
American Indi,m civics amon ~ the institutions and r\ r\S faculty."
Dr. McBroome was also on the search
committee for the new facult y recently
hired under the terms of the gr<1nt. She
describes Professor Joseph Dupris
(Cheyenne River Sioux) and Professor
Kathleen Hill (Klamath Tribe of
Oregon), a::: "strong filcu lty who will work
to strengthen the Native Am ericiln Studies Depilrtme nt as well as work towMds
integr<1ting ...\mericiln Indi<1n Ci\·ics at both
the Uniwrsitv and locill K-12levels."
In the sewnd yeilr of the project, the
precepts of Americ<1n Indi <1n ci\·ics will
be taught .1t HSL and DQC; students 11·hl1
com plcte ,1 !OII·er-d i1·ision insti tu tiun s
course 11i ll h.1n' a b.1sic underst.111ding
of CS Americiln Indi ,1n L111. The hupe L)f
th e project is to creilte fur both NJtin: and
non-Natin• students, an informed citizenry, abl e to thuughtfully influ ence and
-·"onsib l:· \·ote on public policy. Also
1g the second yeM, HSL' Te<1cher
r'il ril tion Progrilm Methods TeJchers
and M,1ster Teachers will join project filcultv to trilin 100 Humboldt Countv te<Khers in Tribal glll·ernJnce and citizenship,
and de\·elop curriculum for their K-12
cl<1ssrooms. The courses, course outlines,
syllabi ilnd re,1dings on Tribill govern.111ce
and citizenshil-" developed by th e DQL
and HSU Llculty wi ll be readied for publicati on <1nd distribution throughout
Tribal colleges and California State Universities. At a recent conference in kbho
on Na tive American Studies, Lois Risling,
the Kellogg Project co-director, remar ked
the number of out-of-state faculty and
teach ers already requesting copies of the
revised cu rricu Ia: "As the goa ls of the
project are being met, we're finding thilt
we may not only be facilitating systematic educational change in the CSU system, but the project hils potential natio nal
impact as well ."
By the third yeat; the Kellogg project
w ill exp.111d its practicill applic<1tion from
the University setting to the county-wide
K-12 curriculum, as the 100 Humboldt
County teachers selected for training will
begin to u se their re vised lesson plans in
their classrooms. The ne w lesson pl<1ns
and curricula will be de ve loped into a
curriculum resource guide to be distributed to all Tribal colleges, Humboldt
County schools and o ther schools wi thin
Californiil. Students <1nd teilchers in these
Humboldt county school s w ill organize
and pilrticipate in a cou nty-wide American Indian Citi zenship Da y in the spring
of 1999. Th e students' activities will be :
ex hib its designed to di s plily students'
knowledge of A merican IndiJn civics, an
essay contes t, <1nd interschoo l debates on
Trib<1 l citizenship. The third yeJr of the
project is also milrked by the collabor<1tio n
of DQU and HSU institutions filculty to
develop a unique course entitled " AmeriCiln Indian Ci\'ics" to be offered clt eilch
uniwrsity in the sp ri ng of 200ll. Students
enrolled in the course 11·ill meet ilt bt)th
HSLJ ,1nd DQLJ. As ,1 culmin.1ting <1cti1it\·, students \\·ill meL't in Humboldt
cuunty tu spend unL' d.11 p.Hticip.lting in
,1 Tribal Gt11·ernment ,1nd .1g.1in ,1t DQU
tu spend J d.1y ubsen·ing ,1 DQL BL1c1rd of
Directors session.
Bv th e fourth year of the Ke llogg
1-lroject, te,Khers will be able to stc1ge a
model Trib,1l Gu1·ernance Dil\. where
high sehou l juniors <1nd seninrs ilctu,l lh'
t.Kkle Trib.ll issues of governance in cl
model council. Once these acti\·ities h.1n:
occurred , the completed Curriculum Resource guide will be published and distributed throu ghout California. In the last
phase of the project durin g July 2000,
DQU and HSU faculty will come toge ther
to facilitate a two-da y Faculty Conference
on Tribal Civ ics, h<1ving refined both the
core information and pr<1ctical application of teaching American Indian Civics.
F<1culty will also create a web site which
will offer tested and teacher-eva luated
lesson plans, a continuing dialogue with
Native American scholars, current scholarly papers on Na ti ve Americiln Issues,
and library resource guides.
" Ultimately," says Dr. McBroome,
"The goal of the project is straightforward; the objective is to complete the
cycle of encouraging systemic change in
how Indian civics is presented in K-12
and university curricula ."
SPRING 1998 "' 7
ITEPP Educational Partnership
ITEPP has formed a unique partnership w ith Humboldt State University's (HSU) Elementary Education Department (EED ) Z~ nd
the teachers at Hoopa Valley Elementary School in Hoopa (HVES). The Director of !TEPP, Laura Lee George (Karuk), ,1nd Sally Botzler
co-teach a Collected Wisdom discussion / seminar which m eets once a month w ith EED fC~cultv Z~nd te,1 chers Jt Hoop Z!.
The course provides opportunities for particip<mts to: consider, share and discuss iss ues Jnd perspecti1·es related to Ame rican In dian
Ed ucation; to support the efforts of EDD facult y and staff in strengthening the preparJti o n of future teachers to \\'ork effecti1e ly 1vith
A merican Indian students and families; and to de1·elop closer working re lationshi ps ,1mnng fc1culty and staff from EDD, ITEP P, H uop,1
Va lley Elementary School and other Klamath-Tri ni ty schools.
The required text for the c!Z~ ss is entitled Collected Wi~d0/11-AIIIait"llJI l11dilln Edl !t"rll iou. ,,·hich includes , -Zi ritlUS tllL'll lL'~. T hL'lllL'o; ~uch ,1~
C ultural Difference: Recogni zi ng the GZ~p in to which Students ,1n d Teilc h er ~ F,1ll. a!Pn g 11·ith C re,1ting ,1 B1·idgL' : Bein g l1 1d i,1 n in ,1 \:< 111l ndian World will be discussed. Additional discussio n tlf themes such ,1~ \\"hat Hils Gone \ \'rl1ng: The 1\e mn,m ts ,,f l\' ~'rL·~ s it 111 ,1 ~ 1\L' il ,b ~ ~~UL'~ , 1f
Niltive Li.lnguage and vVJys of Leilming has tC~k e n ~l!,lCe in the semin,1rs. Pi.lrticipan ts Cllu ld ,1btl l',lnlLlne tl1 t\\"(1 ,ldciiti<1n,11 uni h ft11" (( 1Jll~Ok·tin;.: ,1
project based on reJdings from Co/Icc led Wisdu111. The projects an: to be bas~'d on teacher actiun 1·est.\1rch .md curr icu:um dL'\ el< '~'llll'n t.
Summer Institute
Two ITE PP courses Jre available this summ e r to those with <lll interest in creating te,1ch ing cur ric ulum. The Gold Ru s h Currie
Development course will be held from June 22-2-l plu s Ju ly 31 at HSU. The celebration of the sesq uice n tenni,1! ( 1:50 ye.H ,m ni1·ers,1
the discol'ery of gold in California and the subsequent stJteh ood will be the fo cus for the de,·e kl pmt'nt Llf ci,1Ssroum curric: ul,u un it ~ ':'rrlCi
lessons. Course participants will have access to the ori.l l hi s tories collec ted by ITEPP students of Am erican lndi,111 elders, ~ohutt1~ ,111d
archival microfilm documents from the US American Indii.ln Archi 1·es. The firs t three d.1 ys \\'il l includ e h,l!ld-un ,K ces~ tn the g<1ld ruc-h
m,1teri,1!s illre ,1dy collected. P,utici~',lfltc;
II' ill be expected tll d e1·e i l1~1 !eSSt1nS th.1 t ,lJ"L'
in Z~l i gnment 11 ith the California Stafe C urricul.u Frameworks ,md turn in Ct11ll ~'k' tl'Li
work during the ft1Urth cL1ss S<:'ssion. The CL 'illpleted lessons and units 1\"ill be co mpiled in to
i.l curricu b r binder fo r fu rther dis tributi Llll.
The Practical Classroom Applications
for Teaching American Indian Students
course wil l be held o n June 2:5, 26, 29 i.lnd
30 Jt HS U. T his c!Jss is a unique oppo rtunitv for cb sst'l1L'I1l teilche rs to le<Hn, di scuss
i.lnd address techniques, meth<llltllogies i.lnd
classroom clpplicttions th,1t Jre successful in
teil ching America n fndii.ln s tudents . Gu <:'s t
presenters will be Linda Miller-Cieary and
Thomas Peacock, authors of the text Collt'Cinf
Wi~do111: Alllt'ricaJJilldiau Eduwtio11, w hich will
be the centerpiece Llf the four-d ~1 y instih.tte.
For more information Lln these courses
contJct ITEPP clt (707) S2h-3672.
8 .&. THE MESSE NG ER
Credential Students Bil Coleman and Rebecca Haft
Bil Coleman (Choctaw) wi ll earn his multiple subjects teaching credential this May from
:.. .r umboldt State University. Bil is curren tly student-teaching the sixth grade at Lincoln Elemen:a ry in Eureka. "I li ke to hang out w ith the kids eve ry day. They teach me a lot," he ex plained. Bil
~a rned a B.A. in Libera l Studies, Mu ltiple Subjects from Humboldt State in 1997. He hopes to
:o ntinue teachi ng and would like to earn a Mas ter's degree in Education in the future.
Rebecca Haff (Lenape) is currently stud ent-teaching seven th grade at McKi nleyville School
n McKinleyville. Rebecca gradua ted from the Uni versity of Califo rnia, San Diego in 1996 with a
3.A . in Literature and Writing. She wi ll earn a single-subject teaching credential in English this
vlay. "It is very rewarding w hen the kids show enthusiasm while learning. I like to get the students
hinking abou t the power of language," she remarked . Rebecca wants to be invoked in Nati\·e Ameri:.:ln education programs and create contemporarv curriculum to be used in classroom setti ngs .
ITEPP Student Accomplishments
ITEPP has a number of stu den ts excelling in m nny ex trn-cirricular acti vities. Leo Carpenter,
r. h a~ h..,en accep ted as a summ er inte rn at the National Museum of the American Indian at the
m Institution in Washington, DC. Marisa McConnell was se lected All-Conference for
;mi
ead
.e HSU Women's Basketball team in stenls, assists, blocks, and rebounding. Leroy Tripp
conched the ivlcKinleyvi lle freshman boy 's baske tb.:1ll tea m to a 15--! record and the league champi onship. Carmen Tirado-Paredes is the new Associ.:1ted Student Bod y President at HSU, he w .:1s
originall y elected in as Vice-President. Denise Barragan completed a 108-page senior project
entitled "The History of Cherokee Educati on in No rtheaste rn Alabama." Shirley Laos is .1
counci l member at the Trinid ad Rancheria .
ITEPP Students are Planning a Spring 1998 graduation:
Denise Barragan (Alabama Cherokee/Creek) B.A. in Na ti ve American Studies
Lavina Brooks (Yurok!Karuk/Tolowa) B.A. in Art
Leo Carpenter (Hupa/Karuk/Yurok) B.A. in Native Am erica n Studies
Virginia Cavasos (Chickasaw) B.A. in Libera l Studies
Lonyx Landry (Wintu) B.S. in Life Sciences Teacher Preparation
Chag Lowry (Yurok/Maidu/Pit River) B.A. in Journalism
Melanie Sanderson (Hupa/Yurok /Karuk) B.S. in Kinesiology
Scott Quinn (Karuk) B.S. in Na tural Resource Plannin g
Jennifer Timmons (Maidu) B.A. in Social Wo rk
Leroy "Sonny" Tripp (Karuk) B.A. in Na ti ve Ame rica n Studies
ITEPP Students Receiving their Credential:
Rebecca Haff (Lenape) Single Subject Credenti al in English
Bil Coleman (Choctaw) Mu ltiple Subject Credential
SPR ING 1998
A.
9
lndi~m
Fr1.· BrL'.ld .m d LlCll~. the Tr,lditi,,n,ll
Jnd .1 llruc;h D.l ll(L' Jc- ~lltl!l,t;·J­
tit>!l. Till' ci,mcc' c"tllll~'l'litll>ll ,li'' ' cii"L' \1 111,111\
.1tkn ti1 ,. ,,n: ,,,,kl'r' .md ~'·ll· ticir,,mh. \\'inne:·c;
I ll IC.l(:l ,lt thL' ci,lll(c' (,l(L'gt> riL'' l'l'(L'ii"L'll "~ ill)
S2Pll. ,'J:d -: i iltl '''r ht. 2nd , J nd ~rd r'l.lct'. reS~"L~c:i·:t'h· T!tL' ~..L11ll.'t~r~ rc~' rl'~l'l1 k·d ,1 \",H iL't~;
t1tTriL' c'c 't:c"h _;~ Blcltld Cn:'L' frnm Cm.1d.1. "Llm.l th ,,i L' rL'!-=t> n ,1s 11 t•ll .b lc>cJI Tribes c; uch .1'
'lurl'k .md Hu~'·'- 1\innt.'rs nf the IVlllllt_·n · ~
F.mc1· lin ,c:k L'.mcL' 11·c.-re: [t>~dte I \',1Im ,J,uck
( l~t l, Lc•.J h Bl't t il'~ (2nd ), an d Br.md1· Bl'n
(.i rd ) .\\.inllc'~-, ,,f thL' 1\lllllt'n ',; , Gi r!'s F.mc1
Jin~k D.1ncc> (.lgL'S 13- 1:- i 11e n: \:.1nn1·
Bc>ttk•'t I' t I. !\.1chel \ lust.'s (2nd 1, .md Tmn,l
Lind!-=rL'Il ( ~rdl. In tlw 1-\·,,men',; Tr,Jditic>n,ll
O,lll (L' (.1tL';.:t> l'\" (,lge 10 .llld \l\l'r)till' ll'illllL'!'o'
11 ere : \,>L'!I.l C1-.lz 1bull (1st ), 1--:.nt.'n
1\,lll\\,Hlc:, t:'nd ), .md Br.lnLh· fkn l ~l·d ) . Tlw
Elckr~ Dit~nc• ~ ·
10 .A
THE ivlESSENGER
Girl - ~J ncy Jingle OallcL'
included: Pelein,l5im\l ll ' ·
Sui !shields (2nd ), and l.1 1:: ,• -"1.,-"''"·IL.lt: lJ•tUJ.
l11 the Girl's Traditiona l L\:r1ce categc)rV,
m~rs were: (1st) Sad ie I ii,','·
Cens .1w-Kaye, and (3rci , [.Jn:ie
__
Kaye. In.the Boys' Fancy 1Cr;:;o;s Dance t·\t~· · egory (ages 7-12), Jerimiah Redcrow (1 st),
\-la hueistarr (2nd ), and Joev 6.1te-; (3rd) took
hume the honors. In the Bt,l's' TradihonJl
D.mce (.lge~ :--t: I 11 inner~.,, l'rL' LL·lli Bt'ttk·s
( l:'tl, .-'\ nthcllll'\' l.lZLi t2nci l, .l!lci ~ l' \t>nt .le
T.1y lL1 r (3 rd l. Fur \lt.'n ',\: Gtn·~ i-.11~c\· Gr.N.;
! .1 .~ ~-.' ! ~ + l tt)~"" F' L' !- ~ t ~ n~1 L' !·~ \\t.: !\ ' ' l~: -l'..: ~ ukl'
Stclll >~'l1
Sr.. ( !:--t i.
\.1. :/ i 1 :=. ~lli
I
.: :~._:
\ ic( luuci r.~r·d ). I\ i1 mers el f ti lL' \len i: 1), n·,
fl-,ld ir ll>n,ll D.l llcc' 1: ~-'-': 11 L'i"C r-l .1cL: c·r
l\',lh \1-,l'Llc"k I l,. t). 131-[Llll 1\c'L'I.,c <::!lei i. ,lllL;
Trilh 1\,lillu,.u ct.. ~~~-el i . In thL Tc c'~l C r.l ''
c' tl lllrc-ti tillll R.u,,;,·ll l3,>hc·:n. lr. ll< lll :, t .lll ci
\[ di\~J~ Gcttk·~ l o~ ) k h (lJ1h· : riLL L l 1 i _... ;\,i~iin~
( J-ill~'·'
' 'ltm'i-. 1 I'L'!ll,ilic·d Jc .1 jucL: c• l't tlw
O.lncc' ( ,,111 ~1 t:ti tit>ll. ·' It ll.lc ,j i rri cu It t< >
clhh l ~c· 11·innt.'ro h·c,llloc' J!l c>l thL· -i ,li~(L'r'
rcpec;c•nkcl thern,eh c'c, thc·ir T;·it'L''· ,mel
tlwir L1111iliL'' "' ,,·,•1!'
Tili' Eidt'r.:. Lliilll1'r i.. : ··pt'll:-:1 1rt·.i !,11 !h·
.\~Jrt/.rt'l"l/
ii. l i !~ . ': ·~ 'rlrtlt, ·: f .
it'· ·.: / _:':t.., _:,ll .:. . . ,·_.: _ Trit\;/
L-.;/irtl!"l!/d flltiidil [l(l.'t'ft lj'll !t 'r:t L-. 1U il
L-~~l!frii l if/tl f:: t!l~~ ~ i llt -l : r ~ i, ·
di! d u t r r:· t~ i ur !l ,it 1 i .' , 1 " ~ ~l' it !r
-~~ n ~up:.:..
h 11Jldt7tiou .. .;
! llllkin:;
-.;tT:'It .t'> ; ~ r~~: · i~f~·J :~ 1 , ,! i:u ~ t h ,f, i .: .1 ~ . iil k.
1
1
uffy Mitchell (Nomlakil Yokayo) has been hired
as the new Coordinator for the Indian Teacher Education Personnel Program (ITEPP) Curriculum Resource Center. She is in charge of overseeing the
many books, videos, microfilm and other materia ls ho used in
the Resource Center at House #83 at Humbold t State Uni-
Native America n Studies. She al so
eJrned her certificate of completion
from the ITEPP progrJm. She is currently enro lled in the Global Studies graduate program at HS U and
has worked the last two years at
ITEPP as a student assistant .
Buff v was raised at the
kayo Rancherica near UkiJh,
nd attended Mendocino Community College prior to transferring to HSU in 1994. She is an enrolled Tribal m e mber at Round
Valley. Reflecting on h er educational background and h ow she
came to HSU, she explains, "I didn' t
have any Native American teachers
in high school, but I did have teache rs
who cared about me, and that mad e a
big difference. I did have one Native
American instructor at Mendocino; Hi s
name was Frank Tuttle, and he had attended
HSU. We started talking about the people and the
place and that's when I decided to attend HSU." Another personal influence was an ITEPP alumni Andy Andreoloi
(Hupa) who convinced Buffy to join ITEPP Buffy describes the
progress of ITEPP since she has been at HSU: " ITEPP has grown
a lot since I've been here, and I can see it continuing to grow.
Teachers and educators require many diverse resources and services and hopefully ITEPP, through the curriculum Resource
Center, can provide them."
ITEPP's Resource Center is available to every.one in the community as well as to teachers and educators. The Center has
recen tly m.1de a large acquisition of books, videos and a variety
of publica tion subscriptions . The expanded periodical section
holds a variety of newspapers and journals such as News from
Indian Country, News from Native California and the
American Indian Culture and Research Journal. These milteriills can help educJte and inform students, teachers, Tribal members and local citizens on important Native American
issu es and events. Whil e the work is demanding, it
is cleilr thilt Buffy enjoys her position Jt the center. "Working with these milteriills, I am constantly le:Jrning more about Indian issues
and people. I am alwJys up-to-date on
events in this job, " she remarked.
The Resource Center wa s Jble ttl
acquire on: r $300 worth ot books in
FebruJry thanks to a gra nt Buffv
helped IITite. "Then' 11·as a need tt'r
more books written bv km,1ic authors to be includ ed in the Cenkr.
Denise Barragan (Alabama
Cherokee) , an ITEPP student J ssistJnt, and I ll'rote the Women's Enrichment Grant ,111d got it. \\'c
have stJrted looking into all fields;
hi sto ry, politic a I science, art <111d
others, Jnd hope to ,Kquire buoks
written b1· fem,1le authur s from
those field s," she sJid. "It helped
thilt ITEPP matched a third of the
gr<mt." Buffy is excited about her job,
and feels that it could open the d oo r to
milny opportunities in education in the
futu re. She describes her transition from
s tuden t to working for ITEPP as one milde
smoo th by colleagu es and an atmosphere of
professionalism: "I have been treJted vvith respect
he re at ITEPP; Zo Devine helped me when I wJs a student ass istant by letting me give input into the Resource Center.
I think that gave the Director of ITEPP, Laura Lee George
(Karuk), confidence in m y ability to work here."
Buffy hopes that people in the community and at HSU will
visit the Resource Center and find out about the materiills it hJ s
to offer.
For more information about tlze
Curriculum Resource Center, call 826-5199 or
email at blml @axe.humboldt.edu.
SPRING 1998 .A. 11
he American Indian Alliance (AlA) is one of several
Indian-focused organizations
currently thriving at Humboldt
State University (HSU). The fundamental
mission of AIA is to encourage action and
awareness in issues of local and national
importance to Na ti ve Ame ricans. The
group meets regularl y on campus and is
open to all students, faculty, staff and
community members with an interest
in Indian issues. AIA, originally called
the Humboldt Indian Alliance, has
been acti\·e since the late 1960's and
continues its work of educating, informi ng and reforming in matters pertinent to l\JJtive Americans. Members
of AlA rJise funds by ho lding tJco
s,1ies on cJmpus seve rill times each semester and f.1cilitate e\·ents such as
Indigenous People's Week. This
yeM's Indigenous People's \Neek, orgJnized b\· AI...\ for the second yezlr
in a row, was noted by the campus
community JS a resoundin g success.
The group currently h,ls approx imately 25 core members who organize, promote and attend events su ch
as workshops, sacred sites panel discussions, and socia l events. The aim
of AlA is no t onlv to build Jwareness Jnd
take action Lln a variety of importJnt
issues, but also to unify the Ind ian campus community in a spiri t of cooperation
and shared gl1,1b.
While AI.-\ does not h ave a student
president, Vincent Feliz (Chumash) , a
graduating senior, has been active in the
organization si nee 1993. He describes the
student govern,mce system of AlA as "a
democracy in the highest form." When he
first arrived at HSU, a presidential system
was in place at AlA which didn't seem to
be wo rk in g. In 1993 the club switched to
a system of consensus governance in
12 .._ THE MESSENGER
which all members simply vote yes or no
on each separate issue with each vote
having equal weight. Vincent notes that
this system more closely approximates a
Tribal governance model and seems to
work as efficiently.
The organization faced termination in
1993 because of a lack of interest and internal conflicts which threaten ed to
weJke n the unity of the Native American
Cilmpus community. The sih.JJtion lit a fire
in Vincent Feliz w ho began a spirited
newsletter in h opes to revive interest in
the club. H e says of his work at the time,
" l heJrd that AIA v;as about to be terminated as a club, but not much was done. I
wrote a newsletter to WAKE peLlple up ... I
just voiced my opinion on how unfortunate
it was that all of our great Indian progrilms
and clubs were actuall y separilting the
Indian people and not unifying us. With the
energy of <:1 few Jndiiln faculty, staff and anxious students, AlA slowly but surely g<:1ined
momentum and became what it is now."
Wha t it is now, according to Vincent, is iln
orgilnization bringing <:1!1 people together in
concerted efforts to improve <:1wareness of
and action in Native Americiln Issues.
Two AlA advisors, Lyn Risling
(Hupa/Karuk/Yurok) and Cheryl Seidner
(Wiyot), hil ve been w ith A lA for 5 yea rs
and facilitilte its ongoing projects, meetings and events. Their role is to give guid ance to club members as well clS to
encourage facultv ilnd stilff to become inn1h·ed in the mi ss ion tlf
A i r\. Ln1 Risling, wo rking in thL'
Educationa l Opportunity Program
and Student Support Services
(EOP/SSSl ,1~ the Tuturi,1! CenlL'r
Co,1rdinatL1r, s,ws Llt her p,lrtici~),ltion in ...\1...\. ""\ \ ·,lrh.in~ \\·ith the AlA
st u dL·nts h,1S been fun ,l!ld \"l.'n·
I"L'I\ " ,Hciin~. ]t"s bL'L'Il 1\"lllldL'I"fU]
1\ " ,ltchitl~ students ~rl111· ,llld Llh.L' L>ll
ch,1llenges and le,1dershi~' wiL'~ tu
educate uthers on import<mt is::;uL•::; ·
concerning Indian people." Chen·!
Seidner, \Yllll works ,ls ,ln ...\dmi~­
sinn::; Clerh. in the EOP / 555 ufficL'.
nntes that AI.-\ " is Jn import.1nt p,1rt
uf the HSL' e:-.perience, Js Me tilL·
ITEPI' ,1nd 1\:RSEP progrilm s ,md
clubs. It gi\es students i1 pi,Ke tll ~Ll tn L''\press their id t•,ls, problems and ,Kcomplish ments. It's also a pi,Ke to problem so h-e, ll1
discuss w hat is hapj-'eni ng in Indian Country, and to work on striltegies on different
projects that concern e<:1ch other and the club.
What l find most re11·a rding is thilt thev support e<:1ch other in all ,1spects of schLlOI, hnme
and communitv."
AlA, in coordinJtion w ith !T EPP,
INRSEP, and the rest of the cJmpus community, is orgilnizing i1 graduation ceremony on
Thursday, May 14, at the Goodwin Forum
at 7 pm. GrJduJtes wi ll be honored with
songs, testimnnies, and storytelling from illl
of the NJtive Communi tv.
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American Indian Civics Project
Lecture series
Under the auspices of th e W .K.
Kelllogg Foundation grant, awarded to
Humboldt State University (HSU) in 1997,
a series of speakers ha ve been visiting HSU,
to discuss, inform and describe issues relevant to NJtive Americans. The lectures Jre
free and open to the public and hJve been
recieved enthusiJsticJI!y by both the locJl
and CJmpus community. The speakers are
pJrt of J !Jrger project w hich aims to infu se Indi an issues into both uni versi tv and
K -L~ cur riculum.
Tribal sites without permission," she said.
"Indian remains and artifacts were considered federal property."
Dr. O' Brien went on to elaborate on
the current threats to sacred sites. Despite
the existence of the Native American Protection and Repa triation Act passed in
1990, these are still dangerous times for
Native American sacred sites in the U.S.
According to Dr. O'Brien, there are three
to four hundred sacred si tes in the U.S.
Of these, 4-! are in imminent danger of
de st ruction thro ugh mining, nucl ea r
waste or de ve lopm ent.
Protecting Indian
Religious Rights: Dr. Sharon
O'Brien
Pm fesso r Sharon O' Brien gJ\'e
\...
nou~ 1t- pr0\·o king anal ysi s of
l r1d ian rL·Ii gio us sites Jnd the lack
of legal p ro tection they recei ve in
a De cem ber 12 lectu re at HSU.
Dr. O' Bri c>n tea ches Jt the University of Notre Dame and wJs invited to present her research and
information through the American
Indi Jn Ci\·ics Project. She gave an
overview of the First Amendment
and its protection of the freedom of religion in the United States, noting thJt this
protection is unfortunJ tely not received
by the original inhabitants of this country- Natin~ Americans. Professor O' Brien
went on to describe la ws passed by the
U.S. Government in 1882 which outlawed
all IndiJn ceremonies; by 1884 Indians
were jJi!ed fo r practicing their religious
beliefs. It wJsn't until1978 that Congress
passe d the American Indian Religiou s
Freedom Act, which in practice has had
little effect on the continuing desecrJtio n
of sacred sites and ancestral remains. "The
collection of lndiJn rem Jins played a large
'u in eJ r!y anthropologicJ! research in this
1try, and these remains were tJken from
lecture was the second in the series funded
by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Professor Clinton touched on several aspects of the history of Native American Law
in his presentation. He emphasized the different-and largely inadequate-teaching of
Native American issues in tociJy's classrooms, pointing out that, "Native sovereignty is recognized in the Constitution of
the United States, but the public doesn't recognize it because teachers don't teach it in
their classrooms." He also remarked, "From
early on, Indian matters were an intern,Jtional Jffair. Local ,1uthorities did not ha ve
the power to deal with lndi,m issues."
Students and facult y seemed to
agree with Professor Clintons's view
that the teaching of Natin' American
Law and History is neglected or pllorly
taught in most schools. Optimistically,
the lecture series at HSU is one part of
a multi-faceted effort to infuse Na ti ve
American History into both K-12 and
uni\·ersity curricula.
Native Americans and Contemporary Environmental Issues; Seeing
the People and the Trees: Dr. David
Rich Lewis
Dr. O'Brien' s hu sband al so spoke at
the lecture. Dr. Fixico, w ho is of Nati ve
American desc e nt, is an author, re searcher and professor of Nati\·e American studies. He noted that Humboldt
State has a lot of po tential to build a strong
program in Nati ve American studies.
The History of Federal Indian Policy:
Professor Robert Clinton
According to Professor Robert Clinton
of the University of Iowa College of Law,
"Federal Indian Policy is the viev\' of lndi;m
Country as seen from Washington, D.C."
Professor Clinton's stJtement set the stage
for his lecture at HSU on January 30. The
Dr. David Rich Lewis spoke about
the relationship of Native Americans to
their natural environments in his lecture on
Febmary 6, at HSU. Dr. Lewis is an Associate Professor of History at Utah State University where he teaches Native American
History. Dr. Lewis also touched on such
topics as sovereignty, treaty rights and racial stereotypes, fielding comments and
questions from the audience. His
exploration of Native American responsibility in environmental problems was
considered both thought-provoking and
somewhat controversial. Leo Canez (Yurok)
attended the conference and remarked, "It
seems that Dr. Lewis was informed about local
environmental issues. People in the audience
had some concerns and they were able to talk
about them to him."
SPRING 1998
A. 13
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Northern California
Indian Economic
Development Conference:
Challenges and Rewards
The Northern California Indian Economic
Development Conference: Challenges
and Rewards to be held on May 22, 1998
will bring together national, state, regional,
and local organizations that provide economic development services to American
Indians. This event is an opportunity to network and to learn about services available
ta Indian Country.
The presenters are:
Suzanne Burce/1, Executive Director,
Karuk Community Development
Corporation
Patrick Borunda, Director,
Oregon Native American Business
Entrepreneur Network (ONABEN),
Bill Bruguier, Program Manager,
California Indian Assistance Program
Alsace LaFramboise, Area Credit
Officer, Bureau of Indian Affairs
Kathleen Moxon, Director, \
Institute' of the North Coast
~·
Barbara O'Neal, Grants Four Program
Officer, Humboldt Area Foundation
Chris Peters, Director,
Seventh Generation Fund
Sherry Sa/way-Black, Vice President,
First Nations
Development Institute
Tom Waddell, Business Development
Specialist, Karuk Community
Development Corporation
The conference will be held at Humboldt State
University, Arcata, California on May 22, 1998.
This one-day event is free and registration is
limited to 150 people. Please register in advance. The conference is co-sponsored by the
Center for Indian Community Development
and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
For more information or to register please
CALL:
FAX:
E-MAIL:
- WRITE: ·
14
1J.
(707) 826-3711,
(707) 826-5258,
[email protected]
Zo Devine, CICD, Humboldt
State University, Arcata, CA95521
THE MESSENGER
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Fourth Annual
Diversity Conference
he MultiCultural Center held the Fourth Annual
D.iversity Conference a t Humboldt State o n March
6, 7 a nd 8. The theme o f the Co nference \\·as "E mbrilcmg Cultural Di ve rsit y: Empowering commun ities for
ch a nge ... it starts w ith YOU 1" the MultiCultur<l l Center W<lS
hon o red to h a\'e Dr. Blenda Wilson , presid ent of CSU
Northridge, as a keyno te speaker. Dr. Wil son d elin;red ,, pre sen tation en ti tled, Crcllti11g Co!Jc:;ic'L' Colllllillllilic;; in a Oic · cr~c
Society and encouraged discussillll about "ho1\· l\·e might find
common ground and mutual pu rpnse from the m.111y d in'rgent
views and cultural norms represented in our di\·erse soci ety."
Dr. Ronald Takaki, acclaimed author and ~,rofl'sso r of Ethnic
Studies a t UC Berkeley, \\·,1s the fnllm\·ing ke\ note spe.1 ker.
Dr. T,1kaki is an intern,ltinnalh- knlll\·n schlllM, hi stori,m ,111d
,wthnr, 1\·ho spoke of iln inclusi\·e study of tlw ~'J~t. 01·. T.1!-.. ,1k i
d escribed himse lf as "a professor 1\·ith ,1 mi ssil1n tl' ~' l'l1111llk
und erstanding o f our di ve rsity."
Lisa Tiger, a Nati\'e American acti\· is t nf the Muscogee
Nation, was another impo rtant spe.lkl'r 1\·hu dl'scribed her 1\.lH!-..
to" restore traditional Na ti ve Ame ri c,ln \·,l llll'S th,1t ~iH' ::;trength
in the fi g ht against po\'erty, drug addictil1n , ,1lcolwl ,1nd .-\IDS."
A former nati o nally ranked gymn,1 s t, arti st. H,1mecnmin:c;
Queen and boxing judge, Ms . Tiger ha s ch am pinned the c1use
of Aids education since 1992, when she tested pusiti\·e for HIV.
In 1994 she recei ved the Woman of Courage Award frnm the
National Organization for Women.
There were O\'er 20 workshop presentati c11ls fwm HSL , thL'
community and the Bay Area, and Se \·eral HSu stu dent p<lllL' is.
Several Nati ve American stud ents from HSU tuok ~'·lrt in anumber o f student panels. Rain
(Dakota ), Chaz Marshall
(Lakota) and Eddie Ga
no O'Odham ) p<:1rticip.1ted in
tion panel.
(Chumash) conducted a p.mel on
sacred sites. Panelists d escribed and e\·al uNil ti\'e
peoples tlTing to keep
ated the
being used for comor regain
mercial
implwt<mce of ed ufa ct th,1t Na ti\·e
ea ting m ai
\\·ill aJWil VS
Americiln cui
ha ve the need to ,Ji<:wth P i
ad l ne Whipple
(Porno), Chag Lo
and Carolyn
Lehman con ducte
Rush era and its
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ScLcred Sites Activists
ative activists c:1me together at Humbold t state University (HSlil t1r1 Feb. 12 to di scuss the struggle that Indigenous people are having with protecting s,Kred sites. The Seventh Generation Fund spo nsored the event w hich
was attended by many of the Native American stud ents enrolled at HSU.
Floyd Buckskin (Pit River) and Theodore Martinez (Pit River) spoke about the Medicine Lake Highlands
and Mt. Shasta in northeastern California. Medicine Lake is being threatened by a proposed energy pl ant, whi le Mt. Shasta
may u~ergo ~-~~~;iq.~.g"fjts.,..~ki park. Th~se areas are sacred rel~gious sites to allot the Native American Tribes surroundt~en:,;. 'f.~et;~P-~~~-~~s~n9~,d~t~~~-~;~%~~si:£reachmg out to pohtJCJans, grass-roo ts orgamzJhons and envuonmental groups
•v.};t: ~g tppres~Ev.'e. J:he.i~t~:J1;t;.. : ·:',. -~:i) ;;:;;7;,'-Att·;.,i~~
,.,'·• ;·c'"'~ Bobby:·cano
'(Chui:nash)w-as
also',..oi(the
panel,:ana :he
spoke about his wo rk to inform the public
about-:-Mt.
Pinos,
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locate
Los Angeles and Bakersfield. Mt.J>ino:S is'a sacred place to his people, as well as to the other
"tike
sites across the nation,\t is ·b~pgtNeat'ened b)r"development. Susan Burdick
· '-'ll-'---~·-·
spoke about how peofile.· ~~:d become a~yelyinv~lveO. ip n-"_"~nrm
· te area. She encouraged people' to
_
.. ._. )o pro
sites that are
threatened. Many of the
this event tour the
9-o-'lliiifu.
:ko::<~;tl!'!'!~-v;-:-;vrite to local
ue of sa
legislation to protect sacred sites.
Chris Peters (Yurok/Karuk), Director
th Generation Fund, also expressed his idea~bout prese rv ing s,Krcd
country needs to recognize Native American ::.acred sites as re lig ious
sites. He explained that the feder al justice system
areas deserving of protection.
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FOR .HORE L\I FO R..\l.\T/0 \ .·\B O UT f-lO\ V TO HELP PRESERVE SACR ED SITES
CALL Se v enth Gener;:Jtion Fund .1t (707) 825-76-W OR. e-mail: 7genfund rci humboldtl.( o m
SPRING 1998
A.
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The primary mission of the Center for Indian Community Development
(CICO) is to channel Humboldt State University's resources to the
d iverse communities of Northern California, especially the Native
American communities. We have created the Messenger as a mean s
of strengthening relationships between the University and
community groups: increasing awareness of cultural,
educational, social and economic needs throughout the
region; and identifying opportunities for variou s
groups on and off campus to work together
toward common goals. We trust you will find
the Messenger interesting, informative and
effective in promoting cooperative
community development efforts.
-CICD Staff
MANAGING EDITOR/WRITER
Liz Rocha
Center for Indian Community DevdnpmeP
CONTRIBUTORS'
Steve Carlsnn
C hag ~owry
GRAPHIC DESIGNER/TYPESETTER
Linda McRae. Kelly Getz. Wad e Ammon. &
Edward Palmer. Center for Indian Community
Develnpment Graphic Department
PHOTO CREDIT
p. 2. 6. 8-11. 13 C hag Lowry
p. 12 Lorrain e Taggert
ART CREDIT
p. 7 - basket desi gn. Lyn Rislin g
TATE
U NIVERSITY
TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE MESSENGER
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THE .M ESSENGER is a semi-annual publication oft he Centerfor Indian Community
Development. Hum boldt State University.
The Center for Indian Community Development
Humboldt State University
Brerci House #93
Arcata,
95521-8299
fr ee of charge. call or write :
Ce nter fo r Ind ian Community Dn elnpmcnt
Humboldt Stat e l'nivcrsit~
..\ rcata . L \ 95521-S299
17071 S21l-J7 11.
NON- PRO FIT ORG
U.S. POS TA GE
PAID
9A
ARCATA . CA
PERMIT NO . 78
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(.l ._7 ~L.L.&.Lo"'"-- - ,