Tribal colleges beckoning members (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Posted on Sat, Jun. 17, 2006

Tribal colleges beckoning members

SHAUN SCHAFER
Associated Press
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/state/14843530.htm

PAWNEE, Okla. - Working full-time with a family to support, Cedric
Sunray said he didn't have much time to work on a college degree.

Still, the desire was there, and Sunray, 31, said he rushed to be one of
the 90 people enrolled in the Pawnee Nation College when it started
classes last fall.

"I wouldn't do it anywhere else," Sunray said. "Tribal colleges offer
classes that are historically not offered anywhere and tribal colleges
depend on workforce students."

Flexing sovereignty and economic clout spurred in some cases by Indian
gambling, tribal colleges are growing around the country. Nationally,
there were no tribal colleges before 1968. Today, there are more than
three dozen in the U.S. and one in Canada. Oklahoma, which didn't have
a tribal college until 2002, now has four seeking accreditation and
financing.

"It's been a slow process, but we are happy to be where we are," said
Gerald Gipp, executive director of the American Indian Higher Education
Consortium. "We're going through a real learning process of operating
our schools and reversing decades of neglect."

Tribal colleges developed along with a growth in American Indians
seeking higher education. American Indian enrollment in universities
more than doubled during the past 25 years, according to the National
Center for Education Statistics.

Simultaneously, enrollment in tribal colleges increased 62 percent in
the past decade, according to the higher education consortium. Todd
Fuller, president of Pawnee Nation College, said those numbers should
continue to grow. He said he expected enrollment at his college to grow
at least 40 percent this fall.

"With tribal colleges there is that inherent mission of cultural and
language preservation," Fuller said. "There also has to be a degree
path."

Tribal colleges also may be the last chance to save some native
languages, said Quinton Roman Nose. Roman Nose, education director of
the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, is helping develop a tribal
college on the campus of Southwestern Oklahoma State University in
Weatherford.

"Some tribes have their own syllabary. Others have languages that aren't
written. This is a really complicated area to try and preserve and teach
a language," Roman Nose said. "There's a great need and this is one way
of meeting it."

Course offerings reflect tribal goals. In Oklahoma, the Muscogee (Creek)
Nation offers Creek language as a means to preserve the tongue. The
tribe also made it mandatory for Creek Headstart teachers to teach the
language.

In South Dakota, Sinte Gleska University's Lakota Studies Department has
been integrating Lakota traditional values and history into academics
since 1973. Nebraska Indian Community College, among other programs,
offers an associate's degree in tribal business management. In Wyoming,
Wind River Tribal College offers an Arapaho language class accredited
through Southwestern Oklahoma.

Tribal colleges also offer a challenge that may be unique in an American
Indian student's life, Sunray said.

"There are no excuses at a tribal college," Sunray said. "You can't look
at a teacher and say he doesn't like me because of so-and-so."

Instead of having a white instructor, students likely will see another
tribal member teaching, he said. They're not there to get rich, but to
make a difference, Sunray said.

"They are going to make you work," he said.

The institutions, however, face an uncertain future. Characterized by
rural isolation, limited property tax base, and benign neglect from
state governments, growth of tribal colleges has been uneven. At least
seven have failed in the past 25 years, but another 17 new institutions
have opened.

They keep appearing because there is a need, said Roman Nose, whose
great-grandfather, Henry, attended Carlisle Indian School in
Pennsylvania.

"Even our own tribal members ask 'Why do we need to do this?'" Roman
Nose said. "We have needs that can't be met any other way."

Funding remains key for any startup, the Pawnee's Fuller said. As
president, he has worked to fund a new university and refurbish
buildings for classroom space. The Cheyenne-Arapaho could only consider
a tribal college after establishing a gambling operation, Roman Nose
said.

"With more economic power, with more wealth, we are able to do this,"
Roman Nose said.

In North Dakota, United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck has had to
fight for funding after it was eliminated from President Bush's budget
proposal for the fifth straight year. Earlier this year, the state's
congressional delegation said Congress restored $3.5 million.

Gambling has aided some tribes, Gipp said, but not all. Most tribal
gambling centers are in remote areas, and tribes have many needs to
cover, he said.

"These are schools chartered by the tribe," Gipp said. "So, it does
indicate that tribes are feeling confident in where they are going."

In Pawnee, Sunray said most of his classmates are seeking an education
as a means to improve their lives. He hopes, however, that a tribal
college education will do more for his 5-year-old daughter and his
1-year-old son, he said.

"They're more apt to treat people better if they know who they are, if
they're not marginalized," Sunray said. "They'll get along better with
others and feel strong in who they are."

His family speaks Choctaw and Cherokee at home and he hopes to raise
children capable of communicating in several languages. Ultimately, he
said when he thought about his girl someday getting married, he could
picture blacks, Hispanics, whites and tribal members among her
bridesmaids.

"I know that sounds corny, but I really want this to make a better life
for her and my son," Sunray said. "When I think about her wedding day,
that's what I imagine.

"And that would be nice."