Native Village
Youth and Education News
May 26, 2004, Issue 134 Volume 2
"We have to make knowledge important, make indigenous ideas and culture useful to society. We have to present it with integrity." Simon Ortiz
Cherokee Nation Celebrates
"Week of the Young Child"
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. Oklahoma's Cherokee Nation recently
celebrated the "Week of the Young Child" with a parade and children's and parents appreciation
activities. "It’s a time to focus on the needs of young children and families and to plan how to better
meet those needs," said Curtiss Hogner, a Cherokee Nation Early Childhood Unit coordinator. The Week of the Young
Child is an annual celebration held each spring and is sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young
Children.
http://www.cherokee.org/CurentNewsRelease.asp?ID=1229
Charter School Keeps
Native Language Alive
Yup'ik is spoken by Native people in Western Alaska and is
the strongest indigenous language group in the state. More than 30 years ago, Loddie Ayaprun began a Yup'ik kindergarten
program in Bethel. Today, the only Yup'ik immersion school in existence bears her name. "The parent who suggested
it told me you don't have to be dead to have a building named after you," Loddie said. At the immersion
school, 10 certified Native instructors use Yup'ik exclusively in grades K-2, 75% of the time in third grade, and 50% of
time in grades 4-6. The school's 189 students have reading and language arts classes in English beginning in third grade
and add English-language health and math a year later. All other subject matter is taught in Yup'ik. Looking
around, Jones remarks, "Ever day our students are reminded that they're Yup'ik. They say 'we have life.'"
http://www.nwrel.org/nwedu/09-03/charter.php
Nez Perce elders bless
school's new painting of Chief Joseph
Montana: Nez Perce tribal elder Horace Axtell sang a
blessing song at Chief Joseph Middle School to thank students and teachers for creating a 12-foot painting of Chief
Joseph. Axtell, 79, who traveled more than 400 miles for the event, wore a traditional feather headdress and fringed and
beaded buckskin clothing. "It's a beautiful painting," said Axtell. "You see the buffalo, the water, the
mountains, the clouds, the eagle -- all part of our way of life, because our way of life is connected to
nature." More than 500 students in grades 6-8 started the painting last October,
http://www.bozemanchronicle.com/articles/2004/05/19/news/03chiefjobzbigs.txt
Utah school pulls itself
up
The 300-student W. Russell Todd Elementary School, which
serves the Ute Indian tribe, has been removed from a list of schools labeled "in need of improvement" under
the No Child Left Behind Act. "We took a look at all of our data, all the factors that impact student learning, and
decided to do business differently. We trained our art and music teachers to teach reading, writing and
arithmetic," said principal Robert Stearmer. Music teachers are using rhythm to teach math concepts and spelling,
making it fun for students. Other teachers are crossing subject boundaries to involve several academic areas in their
lessons. Todd Elementary School's success shows that even a school serving minority and at-risk students can achieve
tough academic standards
http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/allheadlines/22750.php
Grant to encourage reading
on Rosebud Reservation
A $24,450 grant from the Reading Is Fundamental
organization will be used to encourage reading on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation, S.D. Parents and children will be given
access to computers and digital cameras to create their own books written in Lakota and English. The project is an
effort of the Todd County school district, Head Start, Sinte Gleska University and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.
american_indians_news_source_tulanappes_list@yahoogroups.com
Blackfeet School Visits
BFC
17 students from the De La Salle Blackfeet School visited
the Buffalo Field Campaign camp in West Yellowstone. Students shared their amazing Wintercount art project on
Blackfeet culture and history. Created in the spirit of traditional Blackfeet Wintercounts, the series of
paintings on their buffalo hide recorded historical events in the lives and traditions of the Blackfeet. The
students joined BFC to watch buffalo grazing in the fields and to experience the beauty of the Horse Butte
Peninsula. In the early evening, students returned to the BFC cabin for dinner.
www.wildrockies.org/buffalo
Northern Utes explore
separate schools
Utah: Members of the Northern Ute tribe have been
exploring for some time the creation of a public school district to serve American Indian students. While any student
could attend, the schools would be created with Indian students in mind. In a meeting with lawmakers at the Utah Capitol
earlier this year, educators and tribal leaders voiced concerns about the public school system's record with Indian
students. "The public schools are failing our [Indian] students," said teacher Gloria Thompson.
"Our curriculum is not relevant to our students, our history books do not reflect a significant part of American
society. How are they supposed to have self-esteem?"
http://www.sltrib.com/2004/May/05172004/utah/167367.asp
Report finds BIA misused
school emergency funds
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has misused at least
$5,000,000 by short changing Indian schools of money set aside for emergencies. Investigators discovered emergency funds
were used by administration to buy televisions, bean bag chairs, puppets, furniture, computer software, retreats for
staff members and other items and services. The misuse of funds then prevented the Office of Indian Education
Programs from addressing actual school emergencies. And in past years, even when is money was left, the Office of
Indian Education Program failed to distribute it to needy schools. According to the report, BIA schools are being denied
at least $1,300,000 yearly due to the office's inadequate accounting procedures.
Get the Report:
Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Indian Education Program Central Office
Management of Administrative Funds: http://www.oig.doi.gov/upload/2004-I-0039.pdf
http://www.indianz.com/News/archive/002193.asp
Campers challenged to use
only Lakota language for a week
Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation: This summer Si Tanka
University will challenge 100 student campers to a week of accelerated learning and immersion in the endangered Lakota
language. Students will participate in a two-day vocabulary and camp orientation, then move to campsites along the
Cheyenne River. Rosalita Roach said the camp is part of Waonspekiya Oyasin, a language revitalization project for
teachers. "It's a full-immersion camp," Roach said. "They're going to use local resources,
like the elders, for activities and for conversation." Cultural aspects, such as set-up of the camp, storytelling
and music will be a part of the experience, she said. The camp runs June 1-6. For more information, contact Carol
Rave or Barry Mann at 1-605-964-8011 by May 30. "Based on people's interest, we may have to do it
again," Mann said.
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/news03.txt
Pequot tribe collaborates
with Rhode Island university
Connecticut: The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation lived
on Connecticut's ocean shores before being forced to an inland reservation. Now, in partnership with Roger Williams
University in Rhode Island, tribal members can "reconnect as a people to the sea." The Pequots have donated
$250,000 in aquaculture equipment to RWU's marine biology laboratory and will be offering internships to students at the
tribal museum. Roger Williams will offer academic and camp scholarships for tribal youth, help develop a science
curriculum at the museum and help in early childhood development programs and college preparation programs.
american_indians_news_source_tulanappes_list]
United Tribes Technical
College names Student of Year
BISMARCK, North Dakota: Geri D. Fischer, a student
in Office Technology, is Student of the Year at United Tribes Technical College. Geri, a single mother of two, is
an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. She graduated from UTTC with a perfect record of
attendance and a 4.0 grade point average. She also tutored other students 10 hours each week and volunteered to correct
paper, type letter, and answer telephones for Office Technology instructors. "I'm blessed to have supportive
parents," said Fischer. "And my two daughters have kept me reaching for my goals."
http://www.indianz.com/News/archive/002068.asp
Honor song drummed at law
school ceremony
Four American Indians students were among the 55 graduates
of the University of North Dakota's law school graduation. "When a member of the tribe accomplishes an important
deed, a song should be sung in honor of it," said David Flute, the leader of the four-man Grey Fox drum group that
sang the Dakota honor song for the graduates. The song translated meant: "People around the world have said this
education is a difficult task. You have accomplished it, and you have made an achievement. Now, take this new knowledge
and do good things for society."
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/8678470.htm
INNU RETURN TO LONDON WITH
A NEW INITIATIVE TO HELP YOUNG INNU PEOPLE
LABRADOR: Four years after coming to London to
launch Survival International's report "Canada's Tibet: the killing of the Innu" Jean-Pierre Ashini has
returned with new initiative to reconnect young Innu with their land. The Tshikapisk Foundation is working to equip
young Innu adults with knowledge of Innu history and the skills and learning intrinsic to Innu hunting culture. The
Foundation is building an Innu Cultural Center at Kamestastin Lake, a spectacular water-filled meteorite crater in the
heart of Innu territory. The Center's income will be earned from tourists and visitors, and the monies will be used for
Innu cultural and educational programs.
http://gatheringplacefirstnationscanews.com/breakingnews.htm
Learning in Their
Native Tongue
The federal government is struggling to educate migrant
children in Mexico. Since 1994, the Education Ministry has opened more than 2,000 bilingual schools for speakers of 62
indigenous languages. The soaring number of indigenous children in urban Mexico is compared to migrant children in
United States where schools have introduced native languages in the classroom. And in both countries,
multicultural education is facing some resistance. Sylvia Schmelkes, Mexico's coordinator of bilingual and intercultural
education, said some opposition is based on discrimination against indigenous people. "Racism is very profound in
Mexico," she said. "You can ask any Mexican whether he or she is a racist, and they'll say, 'Of course,
not.' . . . Nevertheless, in direct interaction, it exists."
Washington Post Foreign Service
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