Native Village
Youth and Education News
March 9, 2005 Issue 148 Volume 3
"When I thought about who we are as Indian women, I had to take a good look at myself...I was reminded about how life, to me, is a never ending learning process, a journey of discovering ourselves, what we are capable of and what we are not, what we hold in the endless sea of our soul...who are you?" Roxanne Swentzell, Santa Clara Pueblo
Minority Business School
Professors Having an Overwhelming Impact
A survey by the PH.D project reveals that minority professors have an
astonishing impact on the career decisions of both minority and non-minority students. The 919 respondents are
currently enrolled in at least one course taught by a minority professor or doctoral student (African-American,
Hispanic-American or Native American). Among the respondents, 60%
are white, 20% African-American,
and 20% are Hispanic,
Asian-Americans, Native Americans or "other."
Survey results:
85% of minority students say
minority professors positively impact their career decisions;
77% of university deans say
minority professors positively impact students' career decisions;
90% of graduating seniors say
minority professors positively impact their career decisions;
92% of ALL respondents say
minority professors positively impact their career decisions;
82% of ALL respondents feel that
minority professors positively impact the education of non-minority students;
65%
of ALL respondents feel minority professors positively impact career decisions of non-minority
students;
77% of ALL respondents feel that
minority professors help prepare students for a better work experience;
81%
said that minority professors and doctoral teaching assistants have a positive impact on the education of minority
students;
69% said that minority professors
and doctoral teaching assistants have a positive impact on attracting minority students;
69% feel that students who
have taken a class taught by a minority business professor or doctoral teaching assistant are better prepared for a
business career.
For a copy of the full survey reports, visit: http://www.phdproject.com.
AOL News
Office Depot Announces
Recipients of Prestigious 2005 ``Businesswomen of the Year'' Awards
Florida: Office Depot, one of the world's leading resellers of office
products, has honored nine extraordinary women with the Company's 2005 "Businesswomen of the Year"
Award. The award is recognized as one of the nation's most prominent and significant events offered to female small
business owners. Among the winners is Patricia Parker, President and CEO of Native American Management Services (NAMS),
a company that provides a variety of professional services to federal clients and Native American organizations. NAMS is
headquartered in McAllen, Virginia. Patricia was nominated by Business Women's Network.
AOL News
Shedding Light on Racism
Montana: The Native News Honors Project is a special class at the
University of Montana’s School of Journalism. The project sends pairs of student reporters and photographers to do in
depth stories on each of Montana's seven Indian reservations. This year, each student-photographer team must research a
story dealing with racism. The stories and photos are then published in a 36-page tabloid newspaper designed and edited
by the students. In the past, the Missoulian and the Great Falls Tribune have printed and distributed the stories.
http://www.reznetnews.org/news/050214_racism/
Pay all residential-school
students
Canada: The Canadian Bar Association says the government should stop
handling Indian residential schools abuse claims. Instead, Canada should pay all former students – about 86,000 people
– a one-time, lump-sum payment of $10,000 as a "base" amount, plus $3,000 for every year spent in one
of the schools. Currently, former students can be compensated in two ways: suing through the courts, or through an
"alternative dispute resolution" program. More than 12,000 lawsuits have been filed by former students
alleging physical and sexual abuse and loss of language and culture. However, only about 15% have been resolved
http://winnipeg.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=mb_residential-20050222
Tsunami EAGLES relief team
delivers magic in Thailand
Thailand: In Phang Nga, a province in southern Thailand,
thousands were killed by the Dec. 26 tsunami. "The people here are devastated. Homes gone. Boats gone.
Children dead, all dead,'' said Doc Rosen, medic with the Emergency Air and Ground Lift and Evacuation Service Team
(EAGLES) team. "The people here are still afraid of the sea. In this one village, 4,000 dead out of
6,500.'' The Eagles are helping to recover and move bodies, provide medical aid, and tour refugee camps and
orphanages to provide understanding and good will.
Among those serving in the EAGLES are:
Bob Rosen, who spends part of the year as a medical assistant on
the Rosebud, Pine Ridge, and Big Mountain Reservations, and in Guatemala helping the Maya;
Alex Bertelsen, a
physician's assistant serving the Nisqually in Washington;
Dr. Robert McDonald, Blackfeet, an organizer of the EAGLES team;
Robert Free Galvan, American Indian activist from Seattle who is
organizing a clean water project;
Brock Albin, an attorney from Montana, a law professor in
Korea;
Stephen Johnson, Chippewa from Ann Arbor, Mich. who is working in
finances and lives in Singapore.
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410395
2005
bison nickel released
WASHINGTON DC - In a ceremony which included drumming, singing, dancing,
and a live bison named Cody, the new 2005 American Bison nickel was presented to the public. ''The 2005 nickel
"...marks the first time that the image of President Jefferson has ever changed on the nickel,'' said U.S. Mint
Director Henrietta Holsman Fore. ''There is a beautiful, strong, classic American bison on the reverse.''
The nation's new nickels went into circulation Feb. 28.
http://www.indiancountry.com/
Indian Country shows
support for Washington Embassy
Washington D.C: Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been pledged in
support of the $12,000,000 Embassy of Tribal Nations in Washington, D.C. "This town is the town that has the most
impact on Indian Country," said Ron Allen, treasurer of the National Congress of American Indians and a member of
the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe. At a fundraising event during the NCAI's winter conference, many opened their
hearts--and wallets -- to ensure that American Indians and Alaska Natives secure their own home in the nation's capitol.
Among the many who offered donations, large and small:
$10,000 from the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona;
$1,000 from the Wiyot Tribe of California;
$500 from Larry Anderson of the Navajo Nation;
$1,000 from Loretta Tuell of the Nez Perce Tribe, pledged in the name of her 5-month-old
daughter;
$1,000 in tribute to the late Quinault leader Joe De La Cruz;
$50,000 from Ernie Stevens, Jr., the chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association;
$50,000 matching donation from Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell;
$50,000 from the Prairie Island Indian Community;
$50 a month from Inuit's Vernita Herdman's bingo fund for event year until the embassy is
complete. She challenged all bingo players to do the same;
$700 a month from the paycheck of Juana Majel, to total $25,000 over
five years.
Allen said the NCAI needs $2,000,000 for a downpayment, then $10,000,000
to complete the purchase of a building. The goal is to have the NCAI and other Indian organizations like the National
Indian Education Association housed in the building. This is something that is important to all of us," said one
NCAI participant. "We're lighting the council fire today."
National Congress of American Indians: http://www.ncai.org
http://64.62.196.98/News/2005/006804.asp
Tribes' D.C. hotel marks
grand opening
Washington D.C. The new Residence Inn Capitol by Margot has opened its
doors to the public. Financed by four Indian tribes: San Manuel Band of Mission Indians; the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay
Indians; Wisconsin's Oneida Tribe of Indians; and the Forest County Potawatomi Community, the hotel is just blocks from
the U.S. Capitol and the National Museum of the American Indian. Last month it had an occupancy rate of 65% with
an average room cost of $165 a night. Occupancy will climb as the hotel becomes better known. Each tribes has
museum-quality artifacts displayed in the hotel.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_hotel03.57e2a.html
No nursing home for Pine
Ridge
South Dakota: A bill introduced to South Dakota Legislature that would
allow new nursing homes to be constructed on the Pine Ridge and other reservations has been pushed aside by the
legislature. Rep. Jim Bradford, who wrote the bill, has worked on this legislation for as many years as he has
served in the legislature. ''We now have a lot more elderly and we have a greater number of people who are profoundly
handicapped. There is a higher rate of accidents on the reservation, and we have people in homes that are at a greater
distance,'' Bradford said. Not one nursing home was built, or is convenient to, any Indian reservation. For
American Indians living in the United States' poorest counties, it is difficult to afford an off-reservation nursing
home. In addition, travel costs are too high for frequent family visits. ''You have to understand the whole
cultural situation, our uniqueness," Bradford says. "People say, 'Why not put up an assisted living
facility?' We have 2,000 of them now. Everyone on Pine Ridge is doing assisted living. What we need is a place within
easy traveling distance for our profoundly unhealthy people. Our reservation is the fastest-growing community in South
Dakota and we are living longer lives,'' Bradford said.
Indian Country Today
American Indian Activist
Raises Ruckus Over Eating Fry Bread
Fry bread -- a basic white flour dough patted flat and fried in boiling
lard -- has become an American Indian staple. But Indian activist Suzan Shown Harjo recently urged other American
Indians to join her in an abstinence pledge from eating the puffy fried dough. Harjo, who is Cheyenne and Muskogee, says
frybread is unhealthy and a major contributor to the obesity and diabetes epidemics among Indians. However, some
disagree with Harjo's statement, saying they've found healthier ways to enjoy the food. "I love fry
bread," said Paulene Shebala, who is Navajo and Zuni and the 2003 Miss Indian New Mexico. She said it's
lack of exercise, and not fry bread, that's the problem. Shebala's platform as she traveled around the states during her
reign was diabetes education.
Associated Press
PACK A LUNCH: SAVE THE
ENVIRONMENT
A child packing a disposable school lunch creates almost 67 pounds of
waste per school year. For the 64,000 U.S. public elementary schools, that means 1,200,000,000 of waste annualy!
Now a new pamphlet, "The Waste-free Lunchbox," is available online. The downloadable pamphlet provides
parents, teachers, school administrators, and others with essential waste-free lunch information. Waste free lunches
saves money, reduces landfill and fossil fuel use, reduces traffic, lessens pollution, and reduces wear and tear on
roads.
Download the pamphlet: http://www.wastefreelunches.org/
Is 16 Too Young to Drive a Car?
Brain and auto safety experts fear that 16-year-olds are too immature to
handle today's cars and roadway risks. Brain researchers from the National Institutes of Health say the weak link is
what's called "the executive branch" of the teen brain -- the part that weighs risks, makes judgments and
controls impulsive behavior. Of course, every brain develops at different rates, but they say a 16-year-old's brain is
generally far less developed than those of teens just a little older Scientists have found the "the executive
branch" isn't fully mature until age 25.
In 2003:
937--Fatal crashes involving 16-year-old drivers;
411-- Drivers who died in those crashes;
352--Passengers who died in those crashes;
Nearly 5 Times--more likely a 16-year-old driver will have an accident, compared to a
20-year-old driver;
10%--Frequency that a 16-year-old driver's crash was alcohol-related (compared with
43% in drivers 20- to 49-years-old);
77%--Frequency that a 16-year-old driver's crash involved "driver error."
http://www.usatoday.com/_ads/interstitial/2005/02-delta/frame.htm?http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-03-02-teens-cars-main-usat_x.htm,174,98,800,600
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